CANNOT LEAVE THE LIBRARY. 



£g$xaL5 



Chap. 






COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



mm LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, cm 

'®Ml, 9-165 ^ 



\ 




RECOLLECTIONS OF 
A LIFETIME 

BY 
GENERAL ROELIFF BRINKERHOFF 




SECOND EMTIOM.- 



CINCINNATI 

THE ROBERT CLARKE COMPANY 

1904 







the l ;;■• \<y OF 




COT. QRrSS, 




Out CuKf fttCtlVEb 




1904 




'■■ ft»rftlBH1 ENTRY 
l\~l 0[ £ P 




CLASS «^X*x Mo. 




i t+ iA- S 




GO^Y A. 








Copyright, 1900, 
By The: Robert CXarke Company,, 



« « •«••••••• -. tJI 






DEDICATION. 



To My Wife. 



For forty -eight years, through sunshine and through 
cloudy weather, she has been my traveling companion in 
life's journey, and in all the vicissitudes of those years 
she has done more than her share in overcoming hin- 
drances and in making our journey enjoyable. In all 
the vicissitudes of life she has been my counselor and 
helper, and always ready to make a sacrifice of herself 
for my advancement or comfort. In short, she has not 
only made my home a haven of rest and encouragement, 
but she has made my public career possible; and if I 
have accomplished anything of value, it is to her wise 
prevision and optimistic faith in Providential care, it is 

largely due. 

(iii) 



PREFACE. 



In genealogical explorations in past years, with a view- 
to the publication of a family history, I found it exceed- 
ingly difficult to get the facts I needed, and often wished 
that my ancestors had been considerate enough of the 
generations succeeding them to have left at least a brief 
outline of the events which had befallen them, and 
especially of the formative influences which had helped 
or hindered their mental, moral or physical development. 

Considering, as I do, that genealogy is not only an 
interesting but an important study, I will endeavor to 
contribute to the records of the Brinkerhoff family an 
autobiographical outline of my own career and its en- 
vironments, and trust that others of my name and blood 
will be induced to do likewise. 

In addition to the genealogical incentive to autobiog- 
raphy, there is also the historical, for, as a member of 
the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, I have 
for many years been interested in Ohio history; and here 
again the absence of authentic information in regard to 
the first half of the present century is painfully appa- 
rent, and we find that even the greatest men of that 
period are almost mythological for want of contempora- 
neous records. 

There were giants in those days, and it is greatly to 
be regretted that the lives they lived and deeds they 
accomplished have not been fully recorded for the educa- 
cation and inspiration of succeeding generations. 

Those who make history may not have the time or the 

( v ) 



VI PREFACE. 

inclination to write history, as Caesar did, but it is to be 
regretted that they do not. However, in recent years, 
the makers of history in the generation now closing have 
recognized the value of autobiography, and we have the 
recollections of Grant, Sheridan and W. T. Sherman 
among our generals, and Blaine, John Sherman and 
others among our statesmen. 

Of course, autobiographies by ordinary citizens will 
not pay for publication, and therefore they rarely get 
into print; but yet they have a value even in manuscript, 
not only for family use, but for consultation by future 
historians, for they often furnish information of the 
highest value. 

Now, it has so happened that the most active years of 
my life covered the most important events of the anti- 
slavery period, commencing with the repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compromise in 1854, and closing with the rebellion 
and the reconstruction and reconstructive incidents grow- 
ing out of it. 

During that period, it has been my fortune to know 
quite intimately many of its leading men, and again and 
again I have been at the turning points of histoty, and 
have had a part in the shaping of events, and therefore 
the student of history will find in my recollections some 
side lights upon contemporary events, which may be 
useful and interesting. 

At any rate, as a loyal member of the Ohio Archaeo- 
logical and Historical Society, I make this contribution 
to its archives, and trust that others will do likewise, 
for by so doing I am very sure we render a valuable 
service to coming generations. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 

Place of birth — Ancestors — Life with grandfather — Home sur- 
roundings — First school-teacher — Chapter of accidents — The 
books I read — Religious influences — Call on President Van 
Buren — Academy days I 

CHAPTER II. 

BUSINESS BEGINNINGS. 

As a school-teacher — The ship launched — Southward bound — 
Storm on Lake Erie — A railroad experience — In a slave 
state — Kindness of Boniface Bell 20 

CHAPTER III. 
UEE IN TENNESSEE. 
Arrival at Nashville — Southern hospitality — My cousin, Harden- 
berg Parsell— Seeking a school — A disappointment — The Don- 
elson family — The Donelson school — Social life in the South — 
"Poor whites"— Country life — Politics of the South — Follow- 
ers of Calhoun — Repeal of the Missouri Compromise fore- 
shadowed — Dueling in the South — The Branch family — Change 
of location 30 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE HERMITAGE. 
A plantation home — Early history of the Hermitage — Mrs. Andrew 
Jackson, Jr. — The Jackson family — Political views of the Jack- 
sons — Judge Phillips — Slavery in the South 46 

CHAPTER V. 

GENERAL JACKSON'S HOME UFE. 

Jackson's inner life — Wife of General Jackson — The Jackson ceme- 
tery — The Hermitage servants — "Alfred, the overseer" —Gen- 
eral Jackson's later life — Closing scenes — Return to my early 

home — Plantation life — The Jackson children 56 

(vii) 



vin CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 

AT THE NORTH AGAIN. 

Home again — "A dream that was not all a dream" — How I missed 
a college education — A law student again — Opportunities af- 
forded — The Pantagonal Club — My social life — My first politi- 
cal speech 67 

CHAPTER VII. 
CAREER AS A LAWYER. 

My examination — My law partner — My marriage — My removal to 
Ashland — My first case at the bar — Church membership — 
Dutch Calvinism — More recent doctrine — Christ and the res- 
urrection — Return to Mansfield — My new law partner — The 
repeal of the Missouri Compromise—A non-partisan political 
meeting — "The Know-nothings" — The People's Party — 
Thomas H. Ford 79 

CHAPTER VIII. 

CAREER AS AN EDITOR. 

My valedictory and salutatory — David R. Locke (Petroleum V. 
Nasby) — A parting word — Appreciation of reporters — Editorial 
incidents — Editorial conventions 94 

CHAPTER IX. 

SAEMON P. CHASE. 

First acquaintance with Chase — His influence over me— Oberlin 
rescue case — The Fugititive Slave Law — Decision of Ohio 
Supreme Court — Professor Peck in Cleveland jail — The State 
Convention of 1859 — Coming events cast their shadows be- 
fore — Interview with Governor Chase — The Committee on 
Resolutions-— The famous third resolution — Presidential as- 
pirations of Mr. Chase — Enstrangement and reconciliation 
with Mr. Chase 107 

CHAPTER X. 
VARIOUS EVENTS. 

A home of our own — Pittsburg convention — Discordant elements — 
Charles Reemelin as an orator — A national party organized — 
The Freemont Convention — Hobby number one — Pioneer 
history — Return to law again — Lincoln's inauguration 122 



CONTENTS. lx 

CHAPTER XI. 
FIRST YEAR OF THE REBEUJON. 

The guns of Sumter — News received in Mansfield — Proclamation 
of the President — The Sherman brigade — My enlistment as a 
soldier — A model military instructor — Our West Point colonels 
— Ordered to the front — My experience as quartermaster — Du- 
ties at Bardstown — Interview with General Thomas— St. Jo- 
seph's College as a hospital — Generosity of Father Verdon — 
Ordered to Nashville — Visit to the Hermitage — Ordered to the 
front— On Shiloh battlefield — Placed in charge of transporta- 
tion—Views as to the treatment of slaves — Placed on the sick 
list — leave of absence granted — Trip up the lakes— Ordered to 
Boston „ 133 

CHAPTER XII. 

NEW ENGLAND EXPERIENCE. 

Arrival in Boston — A week at Nahant — Ordered to Maine as chief 
quartermaster — Yankee dialects — Headquarters at Augusta- 
Duties in Maine — First meeting with James G. Blaine — Intro- 
duction to Maine audience — Appreciation by the people of 
Maine — Maine politics — Friends in Maine — Trip to Moosehead 
lake — Incident with John L. Stevens — A kind remem- 
brance 152 

CHAPTER XIII. 

PITTSBURGH AND WASHINGTON. 

Duties at Pittsburgh — Ordered to Washington — Duties as post 
quartermaster — Write and publish a book — End of Rebellion — 
Jollification at Washington — Death of the President — Scenes 
at Ford's Theater — Audience paralyzed — Booth's motives — 
Death of Booth 161 

CHAPTER XIV. 

AFTER THE ASSASSINATION. 
Piomoted to a colonelcy — First acquaintance with Secretary Stan- 
ton— Leave of absence — On duty at the War Office — Relations 
with Mr. Stanton — Ordered to Cincinnati— Duties as post 
quartermaster — Six months of funerals — Politicians seek my 
transfer — Interview with Secretary Stanton — Out of the army — 
Again in civil life — Attorney for the War Office — Last visit to 



x CONTENTS. 

Stanton — Estimate of Stanton — Seward and Chase — Stanton 
in Buchanan's cabinet 173 

CHAPTER XV. 

NEW EXPERIENCES. 
Start again as a lawyer — Views of great cities — The Grant cam- 
paign — On the stump in Maine and New York — Suggestions 
of official appointments — Glad to stay at home — Views of civil 
service reform — A new hobby — Free trade in a Republican 
convention — Committee on resolutions — Speech for a tariff re- 
form — A new vocation — On the lecture platform — The free 
trade league — Visit to New York — A call upon Henry Ward 
Beecher — Lecture appointments in Western cities — Incidents at 
Detroit and Michigan University — Chicago and beyond — Re- 
turn to New York — Engagements with Governor Hoffman. 186 

CHAPTER XVI. 
TARIFF EVIES. 
The Onondago Salt Co. — Tyrants of Syracuse — Conspiracy at 
Albany — How the state was trapped — Conspirators at Wash- 
ington — A new dodge — Good accomplished — Free trade din- 
ner — William Cullen Bryant— Tariff reform in Portland, Me. — 
Tariff in congress — Promises by Speaker Blaine — A winter in 
Washington — Blaine's duplicity — Indignation of Garfield — 
Wind-up of the forty-second congress 198 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE EIBERAE REPUBEICAN MOVEMENT. 

Beginnings in Missouri — Call for a national convention — The Cin- 
cinnati fiasco — Horace Greeley nominated — Events in Cincin- 
nati — Mozart Hall convention — Fifth avenue conference — 
Greely campaign — Liberals in 1873 — Campaign in Ohio — Ohio 
liberal newspaper established— The Tilden campaign — Inter- 
view with Mr. Tilden 214 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

HISTORY, BANKING AND GENEAEOGY. 

Pioneers of Ohio — Ohio Archaeological Society— Objects of the 
society — Life as a banker — Mansfield Lyceum — Local history— 
Beecher's trial 229 



CONTENTS. xl 

CHAPTER XIX. 

CAREER AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 

Ohio Board of State Charities — Secretary A. J. Byers — Visiting in- 
stitutions in Canada and the Bast — Social Science Association — 
National Conference of Charities and Correction — Advance in 
care of the insane — Contributions to the Boston Congregation- 
alist — Plans for the Toledo Asylum — Boards of County Visit- 
ors — Removal of children from county infirmaries — National 
Conference of 1882 and 1883 — Paper on building plans — Min- 
neapolis incident — Inspiration from England — Friendship of 
Barwick Baker — The convict lease system — Ex-Governor An- 
derson as an orator 242 

CHAPTER XX. 

PENOLOGY AND GENEALOGY. 

National Prison Association of 1883 — Prisoner's Sunday — Penology 
and genealogy— United States prisoners — Prison Congress of 
1884 — Crime schools at public expense — Report on Saratoga 
Congress — Genealogy justified — National Conference of Char- 
ities and Correction — A new era in penal legislation — Tribute 
to Allen O. Myers — The Intermediate Penitentiary 260 

CHAPTER XXI. 

CONVENTIONS: CHARITABLE, COMMERCIAL, GENEALOGICAL. 
Tribute to Charles Boesel and Joseph Perkins— Brinkerhoff re- 
union in New Jersey — National Conference of Charities and 
Correction for 1885 — Prison Congress at Detroit — Commercial 
Conventiou at Atlanta — Response to an address of welcome — 
Alabama Hospital for Insane — Travels in Florida — Conference 
for 1886 — Civil service recommendations — County visitors re- 
organized — Civil service progress — Discharged prisoners — 
Prison [punishments 277 

CHAPTER XXII. 

EVENTS FROM 1886 TO 1 89 1. 

Sherman-Hineman Park — Report of board for 1897 — Omaha Con- 
ference—Session at Lincoln — Trip to Colorado — National 
Prison Congress at Toronto — Ohio Centennial — The National 
Conference of Charities and Correction for 1888 — The National 
Prison Congress — Annual report for 1889 — Baltimore Confer- 



xii CONTENTS. 

ence for 1890 — National Prison Congress at Nashville — Rebuke 
of dueling by General Hayes — Cincinnati Prison Congress — 
Cold reception in Cincinnati — Board report for 1891 — Ohio 
State Conference — Legislation for 1891 — Indianapolis Confer- 
ence. 293 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

CONVENTIONS AND TRAVELS. 

Changes in Board of State Charities — Report of board for 1892 — 
Denver Conference — The Indian question — Tributes to Oscar 
McColloch— Trip to the Pacific slope — Colorado Springs — Salt 
Lake City — Carson City — California— Oregon, Washington and 
Yellowstone Park — Hospitalities — National Prison Congress in 
Baltimore — Journey with General Hayes — Ohio State Confer- 
ence — Conference for 1893 at Chicago — Death of General 
Hayes — Correspondence with Ex-President Harrison — Presi- 
dent of the Prison Congress — President of the Ohio Archaeo- 
logical and Historical Society 318 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

EVENTS OE 1893 AND 1894. 

The Chicago Exposition — Dedication of the Ohio Monument — Ori- 
gin of monument — Dedication address — State Conference at 
Dayton — Legislation of 1894 — Interchange of commodities — 
Sons of Revolution — Address at banquet — Fourth of July ad- 
dress 329 

CHAPTER XXV. 

EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION. 

As an evolutionist— The origin of life — The law of biognosis — Con- 
ference of 1894— Ohio State Conference at Kenton — Prohibi- 
tion vagaries 34 2 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

EVENTS OF 1895 AND 1 896. 

Accident in Washington City — Semi-centennial address — New Ha- 
ven Conference — Trip to Europe— British Islands— Interna- 
tional Prison Congress — French hospitality — At dinner with 
President Faure — Address at banquet — Sessions of congress. 354 



CONTENTS. xiii 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 
British Islands — Irish and Scotch hospitality — English hospitality 
— Crosby Hall — Historic places in London — John Bull a gen- 
tleman — France — Switzerland — Germany — Coblentz — Dussel- 
dorf — German social life — Holland — From Zutphen to Rotter- 
dam — Belgium — Ostend to Dover — South and west England — 
Gloucester — Hardwicke Court — Birmingham — Stratf ord-on- 
Avon — Chester — Liverpool — Liverpool to New York — The Na- 
tional Prison Congress — Legislation in 1895 and 1896 — The 
National Conference — State Conference of 1896 366 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

EVENTS OF 1897. 

New Orleans Conference — River trip to New Orleans — The Confer- 
ence — Prison reform in Louisiana — Homeward bound — Na- 
tional Conference at Toronto — New York institutions — State 
Conference for 1897 — After the conference — National Prison 
Congress — Sessions of Congress— Trip to Mexico — San An- 
tonio — Laredo — Monterey — In the torrid zone — City of Mexico 
— Mexican officials— President Diaz 395 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
EVENTS OF 1 898-1 899. 
Care of adult idiots— Plans of new jails — The Spanish War — Insti- 
tutions visited — Ohio State Conference — National Prison Con- 
gress — New Orleans Congress — Twenty-sixth National Confer- 
ence of Charities and Correction — Results of philanthropic 
work — Care of epileptics — Custodial care of adult idiots — The 
dependent poor — Dependent children — Defective children — 
Juvenile delinquents — Adult criminals — Improved administra- 
tion 407 

CHAPTER XXX. 

CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 

Home surroundings — Every day home life — Out of politics — Faith 
and ideals — The cry of the ten thousand 423 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER I. 

Childhood and Youth. 

Place of birth — Ancestors — life with Grandfather — Home sur- 
roundings — First school-teacher — Chapter of accidents — The 
books I read — Religious influences — Call on President Van Bu- 
ren — Academy days. 

According to the family records, I was born June 28, 
1828, in the town of Owasco, Cayuga county, New York, 
and was the youngest of nine children. 

I have no recollection of my mother, who died July 4, 
1830. 

After her death, I was taken to my grandfather's home 
(my mother's father), who resided at the village of 
Owasco, three miles south from my father's house, and I 
was cared for by mother's sisters, and especially by my 
mother's youngest sister, Rachel. 

There were three sisters, unmarried — Sallie, Margaret 
and Rachel — and these, with my grandfather, constituted 
the household. 

My grandfather's name was Samuel Bevier, and he 
was the lineal descendant in the fifth generation in Amer- 
ica from Iyouis Bevier (Bouvier in French), a Huguenot 
refugee from France, who came to the New Netherlands 
in 1650, and was one of the twelve patentees of the tract 
of land in Ulster county, New York, known as New 
Paltz, and upon which the Huguenot colony settled. 

(1) 



2 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

These Huguenots, after the revocation of the Edict of 
Nantes, fled to Holland, where they resided several years 
before emigrating to America. 

They soon intermingled with the Dutch, and in a gen- 
eration or two lost their language and identity as French- 
men, and to all appearances were as Dutch as the Dutch 
themselves. 

They were a very religious people, and the Beviers, all 
the way back to their ancestor, Louis, were members of 
the Dutch Reformed Church, and were active Christians 
in every good word and work. 

My grandmother died eighteen days before I was born. 
Her maiden name was Elizabeth Bevier, and she was a 
cousin of my grandfather. 

My grandmother on my father's side was also of Hu- 
guenot descent. Her name was Baeltie Des Marest, and 
she was descended from Samuel Des Marest, who came 
to New Jersey with a Huguenot colony in 1650, and set- 
tled upon the Hackensack, in Bergen county, New Jersey. 
The name is now commonly written Demarest. 

Apparently, therefore, I am more French than Dutch, 
and, so far as I know, I have not a drop of English blood 
in my veins. 

The Brinkerhoff name, however, is pure Dutch, so far 
as we know, which is back to 1638 in America, and 1301 
in Holland and Belgium in the Old World. 

My father and mother, and both my grandfathers and 
grandmothers, were members of the Dutch Reformed 
Church, and their ancestors, without a break in the line, 
as far back as we can trace them, were upright, Christian 
men and women. I have heard my father say that they 
were not very famous or very rich, but they loved God 
and their country, and he hoped none of his children 
would break out of the line. 

The Brinkerhoff name has now reached the tenth 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 3 

generation in America, and there are at present about 
two thousand men, women and children who bear this 
name, and yet of those living, and of the thousands who 
have passed away since Joris Dircksen Brinkerhoff landed 
on Manhattan Island in 1638, not one, so far as we have 
any record, has ever been convicted of an offense against 
the criminal laws, and it is very rare indeed to hear of 
one who has reached middle life without becoming a 
member of a Christian church.* 

My oldest brother was not a member of any church, 
but from his youth upward he was one of the main pil- 
lars of support to the old church at Owasco, but for 
Calvinistic reasons remained an outsider. 

In view of the power of heredity for good or evil in 
every human life, it is evident that the best heritage of a 
Brinkerhoff is an ancestry morally and physically sound. | 



* In 1896, a man claiming the name of George Brinkerhoff was 
sent to the Penitentiary from Wood county, Ohio. He was an un- 
known tramp, and plead guilty of the charge of shooting with in- 
tent to wound. He could give no intelligent account of himself, 
and the only reference he would give was to a woman in Brooklyn, 
New York, as his foster mother. The Brooklyn chief of police, at 
my request, looked her up, and all she would say was that his 
father was a sailor, born in England, and left his son an orphan at 
an early age. The authorities were satisfied that George Brinker- 
hoff was an assumed name. Later on, he was transferred to the 
Ohio State Reformatory, at Mansfield, from which he was dis- 
charged upon the expiration of his sentence, and then admitted 
that his real name was George Beakley. The name Brinkerhoff, in 
Brooklyn, where he resided, was one of the oldest in the city, and 
always creditable, and for that reason, doubtless, he appropriated 
it. It is the old story of stealing the livery of heaven to serve the 
devil in. 

f The history of the Brinkerhoff family is contained in a volume 
of 188 pages, published in 1887, entitled "The Family of Joris 
Dircksen Brinkerhoff, and can be found in all public libraries 
where genealogy has received attention. It was compiled mainly 



4 RECOI^KCTIONS OF A UFETIMB. 

In the Owasco village, my grandfather Bevier's house 
was a little east of the center, and as I remember it, the 
house was a comfortable, old-fashioned wood structure, 
located on a large lot, surrounded by fruit trees, and a 
wide, grassy lawn in front. It was, in fact, a part of 
my grandfather's farm, which comprised a hundred 
acres or more. 

My recollections of the place are very meager, although 
I suppose I must have remained there two or three years. 

About the only thing I can recall of my grandfather 
was sitting on his lap and listening to the ticking of a 
big silver watch he would hold to my ear. 

He died about a year after I went there, very suddenly, 
of apoplexy, and I have a faint remembrance of the com- 
motion it caused in the family. 

I remember playing in the yard with a little girl from 
the neighborhood, by the name of Martha Watson, and 
beyond that, about the only incident I can recall is a 
visit to the schoolhouse in the village with my sister, and 
an attempt on the part of the schoolmistress to bribe me 
with a penny to say my letters. 

I have no doubt my stay with my aunts was very 
pleasant and helpful to my child life, for they were all 
good people, but my recollections in regard to it are so 
dim as practically to amount to nothing. 

In fact, my memory fails to report anything with any 
special distinction until I was six or seven years old. 

I do not remember when I returned to my father's 
house, but I suppose I must have been four or five years 
old. 

My father's farm was a part of a tract of land located 



by myself, but the chapters pertaining to the Flushing branch of 
the family were furnished by T. Van Wyck Brinkerhoff , of Dutchess 
county, New York. 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 5 

by my grandfather in 1795, and he was one of the earliest 
settlers in Central New York. 

My father's farm was one of the best in the county, 
and fronted upon the Owasco L,ake, a beautiful sheet of 
water, about twelve miles long and a mile and a quarter 
wide at the place where we lived. 

For rural scenery, nothing could be more delightful, 
and the shores of the lake are now largely occupied by 
summer villas for city people. 

We were on the eastern shore of the lake, about two 
and a half miles from the foot, and about five miles from 
the city of Auburn, which at that time, perhaps, had a 
population of four or five thousand. 

Our neighbors were mostly farmers in comfortable cir- 
cumstances, and for the most part they were of Holland 
descent, and were zealous supporters of the two Dutch 
Reformed Churches located at the Owasco village, three 
miles south of us. 

The old homestead is still in the family, and geograph- 
ically, for a hundred years, it has been known as Brinker- 
hoff's Point. 

Our family at this time consisted of my father, two 
brothers, two sisters, and a housekeeper (Betsy Bingham) 
and a hired man. 

I was the youngest, and was never strong enough to 
be of much use on the farm, and for the most part I was 
left to my own wishes as to employment or pleasure. 

Our farm fronted upon the lake, and rose from the 
water's edge to its eastern boundary with a gentle in- 
clination. The house, barn and other buildings were lo- 
cated on the east side of the highway, three hundred 
yards or more from the lake. Along the lake was a 
strip of woodland, a hundred yards wide, perhaps, and 
between the woods and the road was an apple orchard of 
choice fruit. 



6 RECOIJ^CTIONS OF A UFF/ttMK. 

On the southern and eastern boundary lines of the 
farm was another strip of woodland, and along our 
northern boundary, extending northeasterly, was a forest 
of a hundred acres or more, in which we had famous 
hunting for squirrel, pigeon, raccoon and other small 
game, during all my boyhood days. 

The strip of woods on the east was a sugar camp, in 
which my father had erected a log-house for sugar- mak- 
ing, and in which some of the most pleasant memories of 
my early years are centered. 

My father was a farmer of superior intelligence, and 
as a horticulturist had few equals, and he made our farm 
life very attractive, and from him I imbibed a love of 
nature and country life which has never allowed me to 
be contented with the limitations of a large city. 

The fact that I have always surrounded myself with 
ample grounds, and have taken an active interest in their 
care and culture, has had very much to do, I have no 
doubt, in securing the uniform good health I have always 
enjoyed, and now, at the age of seventy- two, enable me 
to feel as vigorous in body and mind as I did at fifty. 

The farm adjoining that of my father's on the south 
was that of my grandfather, Roeliff Brinkerhoff, after 
whom I was named. He died when I was two years 
old, and my grandmother a year or two later. I have no 
recollection of either of them. 

The farm then came to my Uncle Henry, who had a 
large family of children, and with them for neighbors I 
had no lack of playmates, and we spent much of our 
time together, until they burned out and moved to Ohio 
in 1838. 

The farm adjoining my uncle's on the south was 
owned and occupied by John I. Brinkerhoff, a cousin of 
my father, and he too had a large family of children, 
and with them also I spent much time pleasantly. 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 7 

Northeast from my father's, half a mile across the 
woods, was the home of my uncle, Richard Parsell, who 
married my father's oldest sister, Margaret. We called 
her Aunt Peggy, and she was one of the best women in 
the world, and she took a special interest in me, and pos- 
sibly at my mother's request, for I have alwa}^s under- 
stood they were very close friends. At any rate, Aunt 
Peggy was very kind to me and I was very much at- 
tached to her, and as she was a very superior woman, I 
have no doubt she influenced me for good in many ways. 

Aunt Peggy lived to be ninety years of age, and 
throughout her long life she was a benediction to all 
who came within the sphere of her influence. 

About a mile south of my father's house, on the main 
road to the Owasco village, was the schoolhouse of the 
district to which we belonged. It was a modest struc- 
ture, painted red, and was on the edge of the woods, and 
was surrounded by some fine forest trees. It is still 
standing, I believe, and when I saw it a few years ago, it 
was not changed very much from what it was in my 
youth. In this house my experience as a schoolboy 
commenced when I was about six years old. My recol- 
lections of that period are very limited. 

My teacher was a young man by the name of Jacob 
Hoornbeek, who afterwards came to Ohio and conducted 
a commercial school at Sandusky for a number of years, 
and died there some thirty years or more ago. 

He always claimed to have taught me to spell and 
read, but all I remember of his school is that it was in 
the summer, and that on pleasant days we had sessions 
in the woods under a big tree, and had a good time, 
whether we learned much or little; and I presume my 
school attendance at this time was not for the purpose of 
scholarship so much as to keep me out of mischief at 
home. My sister was with me and took charge of me, 



8 RKCOIXECTIONS OF A UFF/TIME. 

and if I made no special progress, I suffered no loss. I 
at least learned to read, and I began to be interested in 
primers and story-books for children. 

The next teacher of whom I have any special memory 
was a lady named Anna Maria De Witt, although not 
next, I think, in order of time. She interested me in my 
studies and aroused in me a thirst for knowledge, which 
soon developed into that love of books which has been 
the crowning pleasure of my life. 

She started me in "Parley's Primary Geography" and 
commended my progress, and with her encouragement I 
went ahead of my classes in every direction, and for the 
first time felt the joy of a successful student. Since 
then, study has never been irksome, and the acquisition 
of knowledge has been my highest pleasure. 

The old red schoolhouse, embowered in the forest 
trees, and overlooking to the westward, half a mile 
away, the blue waters of the Owasco, has always been a 
delightful memory. Since then, the grounds have been 
contracted, the trees have been cut down for the most 
part, the forest has disappeared, and the landscape has 
been cruelly scarred by the demands of modern improve- 
ments; but the old memory remains undimmed. 

The lake alone remains unchanged — at least its waters 
remain, but modern villas and a railroad along its west- 
ern shore have taken away the most of the charms which 
linger in my memory. 

It has always seemed to me that people, especially 
country people, do not realize as they ought the impor- 
tance of locating their schoolhouses amidst pleasant sur- 
roundings, and with pleasant outlooks. They ought to 
recollect that pictures hung up in the memories of child- 
hood are about the only ones that remain when we grow 
old, and therefore, we owe it as a duty to children that, 
as far as possible, these pictures should be pleasant and 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. g 

not repulsive. In my own case I know that when I 
dream, and locate my dreams, it is usually amid the sur- 
roundings of my childhood home. 

The old, red schoolhouse and its surroundings are a 
pleasant memory, but internally it has vastly improved. 
Then the seats for the older scholars were continuous 
seats ranged along the four walls, with a break at one 
end for the teacher's desk, and at the other for the en- 
trance door. In front of these seats was a stationary 
pine table for writing, and against this table, in front, 
was a low seat for the smaller children. In the middle 
of the room was a big wood stove to keep us warm in 
winter. 

To this schoolhouse I trudged, summer and winter, for 
half a dozen years I suppose, but with the exception of 
Anna Maria DeWitt, I do not think I gained very much 
from my teachers, but they were pleasant years, and from 
nature I learned much; I knew every tree in the forest 
by name, and every form of forest life was as familiar to 
me as my alphabet. So with fishes in lake and stream, I 
knew their habits and could lure them to my hook 
more surely than any other boy in the neighborhood, and 
in many ways I became an expert in out-door pursuits. 
I learned to fish and hunt, swim, skate and could handle 
a boat with the best. In fact, a large part of my spare 
time in summer was spent upon the water, and to this 
day lakes, rivers and ocean attract me beyond anything 
else in nature. 

As a boy I was not an athlete, neither was I an in- 
valid, but still I did not have that exuberance of animal 
spirits that needed to be worked off in athletic contests, 
or something more censurable, that gives anxiety to 
friends. Upon the whole, I think I must have been 
reasonably tractable, for I do not remember that I was 



IO RBCOUvECTlONS OF A UFBTIMK. 

ever whipped or otherwise punished at home or at school, 
as bad boys usually are. 

However, I was a venturesome boy, and sometimes 
gave anxiety to the family. 

On the water and in the water, as a fisherman, or 
swimmer, in the summer, and as a skater in winter, I had 
no sense of fear, and doubtless often took chances, that 
seemed to others reckless. 

However, no accidents came to me after I was a dozen 
years old, but before that time there were several occa- 
sions when my career came very near a premature ending. 

The first was when I was eight or nine years old. I 
was in my uncle's high- roofed barn, filled on the sides, 
and in the loft above, with sheaves of wheat. My 
cousins and I were playing hide and seek, and I, true to 
my climbing instincts, climbed the ladder to the peak of 
the roof and then crawled over the sheaves of wheat 
until I reached an unrecognized hole in the middle, and 
plunged headlong twenty-five or thirty feet to the bare 
floor below. 

My chances for life were hardly one in ten, and for 
two hours I was considered dead, but under the care of 
my uncle (my mother's brother), who was the leading 
physician in that region, and who had been hastily sum- 
moned, I came out all right, and suffered no harm. 

A little later, I was bathing in the outlet of a brook, 
and got beyond my depth, and as I had not yet learned 
to swim, and was at a distance from my companions, 
there was nothing to do but drown. 

The sensation was rather pleasant than otherwise, after 
the first choking sensations were over. All the stories 
of drowning people I had ever her heard passed before 
me like a panorama, and also a thousand other things. 

One thing troubled me, and that was to how my people 
would find out what had become of me; but finally it oc- 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. II 

curred to me that my clothing on the bank would tell the 
story and then I was satisfied. 

There was music in my ears like the hum of bees in 
summer, and all the colors of the rainbow were about me, 
and then all was blank. 

When I became conscious the boys were rolling me 
about on the bank, and I again re-entered upon my 
career which was very near an untimely ending. 

A year or too later I had a fall of nearly forty feet out 
of a forest tree I had climbed for acorns, and by all ordi- 
nary calculations ought to have been killed, but I man- 
aged to get to a house where they cared for me and sent 
me home. 

I was in bed a week or two, but still survive to tell the 
Story. 

The first money I ever earned was by catching and 
selling the yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and the first 
two dollars I received were invested in a year's subscrip- 
tion for the "Saturday Evening Post," a literary weekly 
published in Philadelphia, and which I believe is still 
alive; at any rate it was an excellent periodical and I en- 
joyed it immensely. 

Another periodical in which I invested my earnings in 
those days was "Parley's Magazine," and for the instruc- 
tion and entertainment of young people, I do not believe 
it has ever been equaled since. 

Dear old Peter Parley (Samuel Griswold Goodrich), 
to the youngsters of my generation was ever a safe guide, 
a wise counselor, and an entertaining friend. He did 
not write fairy tales, or fiction of any kind, but he made 
history interesting, and all his books were instructive, 
and to me, and to thousands of other boys, he was a 
genuine benefactor, for he helped every one and hindered 
no one. 

Among my early investments in literature was the 



12 RECOI,I,ECTlONS OF A UFKTIME. 

Penny Magazine, which was a reprint of an English 
periodical, and was full of information. I had the num- 
bers bound in large volumes, and have them yet in my 
library. 

By this time my taste for books became a consuming 
thirst and I read everything I could lay my hands on. 
My father's library ran to religious books largely, but he 
also had a taste for poetry and history, but the most of 
it was rather strong meat for a boy, but still I found 
much to enjoy in Pope, Dryden, Milton, Josephus, and 
Bunyan's Pilgrim. 

Pope was my father's favorite, and his Essay on Man 
he knew by heart, and often repeated pages from it, and 
for this reason, I suppose, I took a fancy to Pope. 

Milton was also a favorite with my father; but for some 
reason I never could get very much interested in Milton, 
and to this day I have never been able to wade through 
Paradise Lost, and it seems to me that it is a desecration 
of sacred things, and gives to the Devil and his angels 
a great deal more consideration than they are entitled to. 

In my father's library there were no novels, and my 
father did not believe in that kind of reading, and I 
must have been ten or twelve years old before I made any 
incursions into the world of fiction. My first experience 
was with ' 'Thaddeus of Warsaw, ' ' which I obtained from 
a neighbor, and then came the ' 'Scottish Chiefs" and 
various others. 

My father looked upon novel reading as he did upon 
the measles, that it was a disease to which all young 
people were liable, and was wise enough to give it such 
direction as would do the least injury, and so he gave 
me free range of the best writers, and let me surfeit my- 
self, which I did in two or three years, and I have never 
had the fever since. It was very hot however whilst it 
lasted, and I exhausted not only the village library, but 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 1 3 

also all the private libraries within reach. However, 
I was thoroughly cured, and suffered no particnlar harm, 
except perhaps a habit of reading too rapidly for proper 
assimilation, but as to any special good to be derived 
from novel reading I have serious doubts. Doubtless 
there are grains of wheat in every bushel of chaff, but 
to me it seems a waste of precious time to hunt them up, 
so long at least as there are whole granaries of golden 
grain without the chaff. 

Of course the best novels are better than nothing, and 
a bushel of chaff with a few grains of wheat is better 
than no grain at all, but to minds really in search of 
knowledge novels are a waste of time. Possibly, with 
boys of my age at that time, fiction is helpful in creating 
a taste for literature which nothing else could give. It 
cultivates the imagination and affords an outlook upon 
the great world which otherwise could not be obtained, at 
least by a country boy; but the boy needs to be carefully 
guarded in what he reads. 

Fortunately my novel reading began with the best 
authors, and I was so saturated with Scott, Cooper and 
Dickens that bandit stories of the baser sort never in- 
terested me in the least. During these novel reading 
years I took also a good deal of history, some poetry, and 
not a little of general literature. N. P. Willis and Will- 
iam Cullen Bryant at this time were leading American 
writers and influenced me largely, and especially Willis, 
whose "Pencilings by the Way" and his religious 
poems made a deep impression upon me. I remember 
to this day a paragraph from Willis which has shaped 
my actions in numberless instances. He said: "English 
society is like a cat's back. If you commence at the 
head and slicken downwards everything is smooth, but 
if you commence at the tail and slicken upwards the 
sparks will fly." From that day to this, whenever I 



14 K^COTJvKCTlONS OF A UFETIME). 

wanted to accomplish anything with civil, military or 
corporation officials I have gone to the head and 
"slickened downwards," and have been greatly obliged 
to Willis for the suggestion. 

Bryant also influenced my life very largely, and more 
permanently, perhaps, than any other writer, first by his 
poems and later in life by his political writings in the 
"New York Evening Post." Among the authors I have 
known, Bryant was one of the few that personal acquaint- 
ance did not disenchant. I knew him quite well a quarter 
of a century later, and the more I saw of him the more 
I reverenced him. 

Two other books I read in those early years I remember 
with gratitude; one was "Combe on the Constitution of 
Man," and the other was L,ocke "On the Human Un- 
destanding." The first led me to live hygienically, and 
to him I owe, very largely, the excellent health I have 
enjoyed to the present time; the other taught me how to 
use and how to economize my mental powers. For the 
poets I have never had very much appreciation, and in 
my early years they attracted me but little. Out of 
affection for my father I tried hard to wade through 
Milton, Pollock, and Young's "Night Thoughts," but 
finally gave up the task, and have never attempted it 
since. Why this was so, I can not tell; I think I had the 
poetic temperment more fully than most boys of my age. 
"I saw visions and dreamed dreams," and many an hour 
I lay in the grass, or in my boat upon the lake, and built 
castles in the air, and speculated upon the Infinite. 
About the only poems that took hold of me at this 
time with power were the "Book of Job" and "Bryant's 
Thanatopsis. " A little later Byron's poems moved me 
profoundly, and especially his "Childe Harold" and 
some of his somber dramas, like "Manfred," "Sardanapa- 
lus," and "Cain," and doubtless influenced my life more 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 1 5 

or less, but upon the whole the poets have had little to 
do with my mental make-up. This may be my misfor- 
tune; but such is the fact nevertheless. 

During all these early years the religious influences which 
surrounded me were Calvinistic. My father was an elder 
in the Dutch Reformed Church, and our fireside was often 
surrounded by the brethren in high discussion upon fore- 
ordination, free will, and other religious topics. 

My Father was a Calvinist, but he was too much of a 
Christian to be a bigot, and if his creed had been as fault- 
less as his life there would have been no cause for revision 
in later generations. Religion as illustrated in my father's 
life attracted me and held me steady, but our Calvinistic 
preachers (dominies as they were called in Dutch) re- 
pelled me, and made me skeptical. God, as they repre- 
sented Him, was a cruel tyrant rather than a kind Father. 
At least it seemed so to me, although I tried hard to 
think otherwise. 

Doubtless Calvinism was better than its creed, and it 
has been a wonderful power for good in the world, but to 
a doubting Thomas of a boy like me, it was hurtful in 
many ways. However, it surrounded me with a reli- 
gious atmosphere, and my father's life and teachings, in 
the end, led me to see that God was not a tyrant, but 
I,ove, and L,ight, and I^ife. With children, example is 
much more potent than precept, and they are very 
early in discerning the difference between precept and 
performance, and I think also that they consider the 
problem of life and death much earlier than we give them 
credit for. At any rate, when I recall my child-life, I 
cannot remember the time when the whence, why, and 
wherefore of existence were not questions for meditation. 

When I was about ten years old, I had my first ex- 
perience with a President of the United States. It was 
with Martin Van Buren, who made a visit to the city 



1 6 RECOU.KCTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

of Auburn, five miles from my home. My father and 
Uncle Henry were old friends of the President, and lead- 
ing Democrats in the county, and naturally called upon 
him. My father took me with him. I remember the only 
person present with the President was Wm. H. Seward, 
then governor of New York. After the usual salutations, 
I was introduced by my father as " my youngest." The 
President patted me kindly on my head, and inquired if 
I was "a Jackson boy," and when I said "yes, sir," he 
replied, "then you are all right." 

Van Buren, as I remember him, was a placid, smooth- 
faced sandy-haired gentleman, in middle life, and was 
very kind and courteous. I have known half a dozen 
Presidents since then, but none of them were so suave 
and cultured as Martin Van Buren. Ten years later the 
"Jackson boy" he commended was a tutor at the Hermit- 
age, in charge of General Jackson's grandchildren. 

When I was twelve years old, perhaps at my own re- 
quest, I was permitted to leave my own district school 
and attend that of an adjoining district. This was known 
as the Parsell School, and was near where my uncle and 
aunt lived. This was a larger and more advanced school 
than I was accustomed to, and my attendance there was 
an epoch in my life. The teacher's name was Garret 
Van Vleet, and his ability for creating a love of knowl- 
edge and study in his pupils was really wonderful, and I 
have never known classes to advance faster or further in 
the same length of time than they did with him. At 
any rate, at the end of my second winter with him, I was 
well up to the standard of the ordinary high school of 
the present day. 

At the age of fourteen, I was sent to the academy at 
the city of Auburn, about six miles from my home. 
Here I had an entirely new environment, and, like a bird 
severed from the parent nest, I had an opportunity to fly 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 1 7 

alone for the first time; that I flew a little irregularly is 
not to be wondered at, but upon the whole I got along 
fairly well. For a time I boarded at the academy, where 
the boys were pretty wild, but later on I boarded with a 
private f amity, in the city, where I had better oppor- 
tunity for study. 

I was at the academy about a year, and made some 
progress, especially in Latin and Greek. Mr. Hopkins, 
the principal of the academy, was a man of considerable 
learning, but he was not an inspiring teacher to me, al- 
though he treated me kindly, and did me no harm. 
Among my fellow students I made no lasting friendships, 
and I remember only three or four who became prom- 
inent in after life; of these, Roscoe Conkling and Clar- 
ence Seward were in the class above me, and Frederick 
Seward, son of Governor Wm. H. Seward, was in the 
class below me. Outside I had some close friends who 
were helpful to me. Among them was a young artist 
by the name of George Clough, who afterwards became 
quite famous, and from whom I acquired a taste for art 
which has been a joy to me ever since. From him I learned 
free-hand drawing, and painting in oil somewhat, and 
how to play the flute. In short, what little I know of 
art and music I learned from him. Through him I be- 
came acquainted with Elliot, the famous portrait painter 
of that generation. What I gained from associating with 
these two men has been of more value than all I acquired 
at the academy. 

The boys of the academy were wild as colts, and per- 
petrated many pranks upon the teachers and each other, 
and I participated in a small way, but I never enjoyed 
that kind of foolishness very much, and greatly preferred 
a quiet hour with Clough in his studio, talking art, or 
listening to his flute. Occasionally, we rambled in the 
2 



1 8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

woods and fields around the city, with our sketch books. 
Clough at this time painted four landscapes of considera- 
ble merit, and one of them he gave to me, and it is still 
a valued possession. It is a picture of the house and its 
surroundings of Judge Conkling, the father of Roscoe. 
It was then a delightfully rural scene, with water and 
woods in the foreground, but it has long since been cov- 
ered over with factories and houses, and nothing remains 
of its pristine beauty. In the picture I am depicted as a 
fisherman on a bridge, and posed as such whilst Clough 
sketched me in the picture. I was at the academy, I 
suppose, about a year, and thea was transferred to an- 
other school of higher grade at the village of Homer, 
some forty miles south of my father's house. The Ho- 
mer Academy at that time was one of the famous schools 
of the state, made so largely by the presidency of S. B. 
Wool worth, afterwards the chancellor of the State Nor- 
mal School. It really deserved its high reputation, and 
attracted a large number of pupils, both male and female. 
Here I had larger advantages than at Auburn, and came 
in contact with more advanced scholars, and upon the 
whole I think I improved my opportunities fairly well. 

My associates were mostly older than I, and the fact 
that I was able to keep up with them in my studies gave 
me confidence. Still I made no permanent friendships at 
Homer, and even the teachers did not impress me as Gar- 
ret Van Vleet had done at the Parsell District School. 
Upon the whole, however, my year at Homer was helpful 
to me in many ways, and was time well spent. 

The summer and autumn of 1844, at Homer, gave me 
my first interest in politics. It was a presidential year, 
with Clay and Polk as competing candidates. The most 
of the students were Whigs, but I was a hot young Dem- 
ocrat, and as the adherents of Polk and Dallas were few 
in number, we had pretty hard work to keep up our end 



CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 1 9 

of the discussions. I, for one, was ready to "back my 
opinions with a wager, ' ' and the result was that number- 
less oyster suppers and other small stakes were pending 
when the election came off. The result was I won all, 
and enforced nothing, and I have never made election 
bets, or any others, from that day to this. 

At Homer, as at all schools where there are a large 
number of students, we had the usual typical charac- 
teristics. Some were diligent and some were dilatory; 
some steady and some wild; some dull and some bright; 
some religious and some skeptical. I think I was fairly 
diligent and steady; I have no recollections of black 
marks or reprimands. I was not as bright as some oth- 
ers, and made no claim to meteoric gifts in any direction; 
but I kept well to the front in my classes, and had the 
good opinion of my teachers. 

By inheritance I was of a religious nature, and I can 
not remember the time when the great questions of God 
and the future did not interest me profoundly; but at the 
same time my temperament was critical and skeptical, 
and a faith without a scientific basis to rest upon was 
impossible. The result was that I was more of a moral- 
ist than a Christian, and rather prided myself that, as a 
Stoic of the Marcus Aurelius type, I was better in 
conduct than most Christians; and I am not sure but I 
was. 

My motto was, ' 'Mens conscia recti, ' ' and I tried to live 
up to it; but the more I tried the more conscious I be- 
came of falling short of my ideal, and the result was 
years of mental unrest before I discerned that the best 
of us are miserable sinners, that no one can be saved by 
works alone, and that there is no solution of the riddle 
of life except in Jesus Christ, our Lord. 



20 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER II. 

Business Beginnings. 

As a school-teacher — The ship launched — Southward bound — 
Storm on Lake Erie — A railroad experience — In a slave state — 
Kindness of Boniface Bell. 

In the autumn of 1844, I received an invitation to 
teach a country school in the township of Niles, a few- 
miles south of my father's, and accepted it. I was a 
boy just past sixteen years, tall, slender, and rather 
timid; but the school was small and the twenty or thirty 
scholars were young enough for me to control, and I got 
along very well — at least my employers seemed to think 
so. I was deeply interested in my work and did my 
best, but still I have always felt that my own education 
was advanced more than my scholars. 

My work gave me confidence in myself and that self- 
control and clearness of thought which I so much needed. 
In fact, my experience as a teacher has fully convinced me 
that we can never fully assimilate what we have learned 
until we endeavor to impart our knowledge to others. 

My Niles school was the beginning of my career as an 
independent factor in the work of the world. I received 
the munificent sum of ten dollars a month, and ' 'boarded 
around," but no king was ever more independent or 
happier than I, and the experience and the mental up- 
lift I received was of more value than any amount of 
money. 

In the spring of 1845, I concluded to study law. At 
that time, in New York, it took seven years of study to 



BUSINESS BEGINNINGS. 21 

obtain admission to the bar; and as I had a chance, 
through my father's influence, to get into an office where 
I could partly earn my way, I started in. My preceptor 
was a lawyer in the city of Auburn, by the name of 
Stephen A. Goodwin, and he was also an officer of the 
chancery court, which afforded me some work as a copy- 
ist at ten cents a folio of one hundred words. Mr. 
Goodwin was a middle-aged man, a good lawyer, and a 
kindly, pleasant gentleman, and my stay with him was 
agreeable, and I read Blackstone and other elementary 
works with some degree of profit, I presume, but my 
memory does not recall any special inspiration or uplift 
connected with this period. 

Whilst a law student with Mr. Goodwin, I attended 
the famous murder trial known as the "Freeman case," 
in which Wm. H. Seward was counsel for defendant and 
John D. Van Buren was prosecutor. It continued many 
days, and here for the first time I heard the plea of in- 
sanity fully considered, and I presume it has never been 
more ably presented. The negro had slaughtered a whole 
family, and public sentiment was so overwhelming 
against him that he was convicted and sentenced to be 
hung. Before the day of execution, however, his insan- 
ity was so palpable that he was reprieved, and soon after 
died, a pitiable imbecile. This trial gave me a lifelong 
interest in the subject of insanity. 

In the autumn of this year (1845), I accepted an invi- 
tation to teach a school in the old red schoolhouse where 
I first learned to read. My invitation was coupled with 
the suggestion that I would have a tough lot of pupils to 
deal with, and if I was able to manage them it was more 
than any other teacher had done for some years. This, 
instead of deterring, rather stimulated me, for I knew 
the crowd from my youth up, and I had a curiosity to 
try the ring of my metal under adverse circumstances. 



22 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

There were in the district a dozen or more young men 
who were as wild as hawks and bright as the light, who 
had been in the habit of making the winter school a bed- 
lam, ending in chaos in a few weeks. They were older 
than I, some of them several years older, and it required 
generalship to handle them. They did not put in an ap- 
pearance for two or three weeks after school opened, and 
then they came in a body, bent on mischief. I met 
them frankly at the very threshold, and insisted on a full 
understanding as to our relative rights and duties. They 
were willing to admit that I had had superior educational 
advantages and that I was competent to instruct them. I, 
upon my part, assured them they could command all my 
powers by day and by night, and that I knew them well 
enough to believe that if we could work together har- 
moniously, we could make a record as conspicuously 
good as the past had been conspicuously bad. 

The result of our consultation was that we came to a 
full understanding, and a more progressive set of scholars 
I have never seen. The enthusiasm was wonderful, and 
we not only put in the days, but some of the evenings 
also each week. My classes in all lines caught the con- 
tagion, and in some, especially arithmetic and algebra, 
the progress made was phenomenal. In fact, I have 
never seen it equaled any where in the same length of 
time. The outcome was that when the spring came we 
were the banner school of the county and my reputation 
as a teacher was at high-water mark. The uplift to me, 
of course, was immense. It was my first genuine success 
in life, as the jockeys would say, "I struck my gait," 
and I am not sure but I made a mistake in not making 
educational work my life work. 

In the month of May, 1846, I returned to my law 
studies, but my father having become financially em- 
barrassed somewhat, I began to feel that it was incum- 



BUSINESS BEGINNINGS. 2$ 

bent upon me to relieve him from further burden upon 
my account. A year or so previously a cousin of mine 
had gone to the State of Tennessee as a teacher and it 
occurred to me that possibly I might do well by going 
there also, and so I wrote to him and he encouraged me 
to join him, and thought he could aid me in getting a 
start. So I talked it over with my father, and early in 
October he took me to the city, gave me one hundred 
dollars, took me to the railroad station, and started me 
out, with good advice and his blessing into the great 
world alone. I never saw him again. I have never 
known a better man, and to his example and teachings I 
am indebted more than to all others. 

My father did not dictate in the slightest as to my 
studies or as to my career in life — perhaps it was hazard- 
ous for me that he did not do so — but the moral impress 
that he left upon me was so powerful that it was im- 
possible for me to drift very far out of the line of recti- 
tude, wherever the winds and currents of life might 
carry me. Doubtless, a directing hand would have been 
helpful to me at my age, but the heredity, and example 
nry father gave me were worth a thousand times more 
than the wisest dictation without them. 

When I look back over the years that have come and 
gone since that October morning in 1846, when I cut 
loose from home surroundings, and home influence, and 
assumed the entire responsibility of my own career, and 
ask myself as to its wisdom or unwisdom, I can only say, 
God only knows; I do not. If I were asked by a young 
fellow situated as I was, I presume I would say without 
hesitation, don't you do it. Very likely two years 
earlier I would have said to him keep out of a law office 
until you have finished a college course and acquired a 
sufficient mental discipline to know what you are best 
fitted for. Still, I am not sure but the course I actually 



24 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

did take was the very best I could have adopted for the 
best development of the mental and physical forces 
given me. 

At any rate here I was on that memorable October 
day, on the New York Central Railroad (then but re- 
cently opened), on my way to Nashville, Tennessee, via 
Buffalo and the lake. It was a long leap into the un- 
known for a beardless boy, like me to make; but the 
world was fresh, and all things were new and entertain- 
ing, and of course the sensations were immensely inter- 
esting. I reached Buffalo late in the afternoon and went 
directly to the steamer "Wisconsin," then one of the 
finest boats on the lake. 

We left the harbor at sundown; the sky was overcast, 
and a heavy storm was evidently gathering along the 
western horizon, and within an hour the wind began to 
blow heavily, and by midnight it became a howling gale. 
By this time nearly all the passengers were sick and 
many were badly frightened. Fortunately for me I had 
spent a great deal of time on the water at home, and did 
not get sick or scared. On the contrary, there was a 
sublime fascination in the storm which banished all sense 
of personal danger. 

Aside from the officers and crew I was the only person 
on deck, and by holding on to an iron stanchion, I was 
able to keep my feet. I have never seen a wilder night 
on any waters, fresh or salt. As the night wore on the 
wind increased and grew colder, and finally a blinding 
storm of snow and sleet came down upon us. At last 
the winds were so fierce and the sea so heavy that it was 
evident we were making no headway, and the captain 
came to the conclusion to hunt a shelter under the Canada 
shore. It was a risky business to swing the ship around 
in the teeth of such a gale, but it was finally accom- 
plished, and we ran northeasterly towards the light upon 



BUSINESS BEGINNINGS. 25 

Long Point, and just about daylight we swung under its 
lea and anchored. Here we remained all that day and 
part of the next, when the wind lulled somewhat and we 
made another start up the lake, but it was soon found 
that the sea was too heavy for progress, and back we 
came again under the friendly shelter of Long Point. 

The next day we tried it again and finally succeeded 
in pushing through to Cleveland, where we ran upon a 
sand bar, on account of the water blown out of the 
harbor by the winds, and were landed by a canal boat. 
Here, in order to gain time, I took a freight steamer for 
Sandusky. I was in bad luck again, for the wind blew 
great guns, and it was past midnight before we reached 
Milan. 

At Milan I learned or remembered that the collector of 
the port was my first school teacher, Jacob Hoornbeek, 
and as he lived close by the landing, I concluded to stop 
and see him and take my chances of getting to Sandusky 
by land, which was only ten miles away. So I routed 
him out of bed and staid until morning. I was certainly 
glad to see him, and I think he was glad to see me, and 
we had a pleasant time together. 

The next morning I hired a carriage and driver and 
reached Sandusky in time to take the south-bound train 
on the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad. This 
road at that time was probably the longest in the state. 
There were a few miles on each end of the old Mad 
River road, and beyond that, so far as I remember, there 
was not a mile of railroad anywhere in the state. 

At Plymouth, twenty miles north of Mansfield, I 
stopped a week or ten days to visit my sisters and other 
relations, and then went on to Mansfield, and took the 
stage for Springfield, via Newark and Columbus. We 
left Mansfield about noon and reached Columbus the 
evening of the next day, which made the ride long and 



26 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

tedious. This ride was without incident, and was rather 
tiresome. 

At Springfield I took the train for Cincinnati. It was 
early in the morning as we pulled out in a foggy drizzle, 
and there were but few passengers in the car. Presently 
the conductor, a stalwart Irishman, came in to collect 
fares. He had evidently been drinking and was not yet 
sober. When he came to me I handed him a five dollar 
bill which he took in a maudlin way, and after looking it 
over returned it to me, and said that kind of money 
would not pass. It was a new bill, received by me at the 
Cayuga County Bank, and was a part of the hundred 
dollars given me by my father, and was really worth a 
premium in Ohio, and I told him so. He insisted that it 
was not good and that I could not ride on it. I told him 
all the money I had was of that kind, that I knew it was 
good, and that I proposed to ride on it. He pulled the 
bell rope to stop the train, and went forward to the brake- 
man to help him put me off. Of course they could put 
me off, but I was young and fiery and did not propose to 
go without a fight for my rights. 

Just then a passenger sitting behind me tapped me on 
the shoulder and said, "Count me on your side." I 
looked around and saw a strong, heavily-bearded man, 
wrapped in a blue army overcoat, and of course I felt re- 
lieved. The train stopped and the conductor and brake- 
man came for me, my new friend caught his arm and 
called a halt. "Who are you?" said the conductor with 
a big oath. "I am Major Gordon of the United States 
Army," was the reply, "and all the men you have on 
this train can't put this young man off." In short, I 
was let alone and rode in peace to Cincinnati. 

Major Gordon, as he told me, was a cavalry officer 
under General Taylor, and had been wounded at the 
Battle of Resaca de la Palma in the month of May, and 



BUSINESS BEGINNINGS. 27 

was now on his way to rejoin his regiment. It was my 
first experience with a regular army officer, and I have 
had an affection for West Pointers ever since. 

Later in my life, when I became a soldier myself, I 
always preferred service under a regular army officer; 
and I had a large experience with them, and never had 
the slightest friction with one of them. They were 
gentlemeu, and knew what they wanted, and knew 
when a subordinate was doing his duty, and were always 
ready to commend faithful service. 

Major Gordon as we neared Cincinnati paid my fare, 
and told me I could repay him at the hotel when I got 
my money changed. This I did at the Henri House, 
where we stopped. At noon I bade him good-bye and 
took the mail boat for Louisville. I had been up two 
nights and was glad to get into my stateroom and go to 
sleep. When I awakened I had evidently been at the 
wharf in Louisville for sometime. 

It was two o'clock in the morning, and not a living 
person to be found. I finally went ashore and wandered 
about the landing to find some one to take me to the 
Gait House, where I knew the stage started for Nash- 
ville at four o'clock. It was perfectly still and there was 
not the slightest form of life to be found, and for the 
first time I was homesick, and knew what it was to be a 
stranger in a strange land. After awhile I heard the 
sound of wheels, and presently a negro with a mule and 
cart came in view, and I engaged him to take me to 
the Gait House. We succeeded in getting my trunk 
ashore and into the cart, and seated upon it I rode to 
the Gait House in triumph. 

I got my breakfast and took the stage at daylight. 
It was a glorious morning, clear, crisp and frosty. The 
scenery was new, strange and interesting, and I was 
young, fresh and healthy, and of course I was happy. 



28 RKCOI^ECTIONS OF A LIFETIME). 

I was now in a slave state, and the preponderance of 
negroes was the first novelty that attracted my attention, 
and the next was Kentucky farm houses with a chimney 
at each end on the outside. 

We were on a splendid pike road, bowling along at ten 
miles an hour, and changing horses frequently. As the 
day wore on it grew colder, and as evening came there 
were but two passengers left — myself and a young man 
by the name of Pearson, from Philadelphia. It grew 
still colder, and we told stories and sang songs, and 
amused ourselves as best we could. At last, about nine 
o'clock at night, we stopped for supper, at what was 
known as "Bell's Tavern," seven miles from Mammoth 
Cave. 

The landlord opened the stage door and helped me out, 
but I found that I was so nearly frozen that I could 
not walk alone. Mr. Bell helped me to the house and 
opened the door and ushered us into a room with an old- 
fashioned fireplace, with a great fire, which looked like 
a blazing log heap; the light and warmth was like heaven 
upon earth. After thawing out a little, Mr. Bell said: 
"The next thing you need is some peach brandy and 
honey;" and he took us to the bar at one end of the 
room and poured out a tumbler nearly full of these gen- 
erous ingredients, and then, warmed up with an inward 
and outward glow, he took us to a supper fit for a king. 
The venison, and quail, and coffee, and hot rolls of that 
supper have been a joy of memory ever since. 

Dear old Boniface Bell has gone to his rest long ago; 
but I have marked his memory with a white stone, and 
shall never forget him. There are now no Bell's Tav- 
erns in all that Southern land, and never can be where 
railroads run. We left Bell's Tavern with a glow of sat- 
isfaction, warmed and invigorated for our all-night ride, 
and did not experience further inconvenience from cold. 



BUSINESS BKGINNINGS. 29 

In fact, as we were going due south, the weather soon 
moderated, and by morning it was mild enough for me 
to ride outside with the driver and see the country. 

From the Tennessee boundary southward, through 
Sumner and Davidson counties to Nashville, is a beauti- 
ful rolling country, and pleasant to the view at all times; 
but riding through it for the first time, as I did, on a 
sunny day in November, it was unusually attractive. 



30 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER III. 

Life in Tennessee. 

Arrival at Nashville — Southern hospitality — My cousin, Harden- 
berg Parsell — Seeking a school — A disappointment — The Donel- 
son family — The Donelson school — Social life in the South — 
" Poor whites" — Country life — Politics of the South — Followers 
of Calhoun — Repeal of the Missouri Compromise foreshadowed — 
Dueling in the South — The Branch family — Change of location. 

We reached Nashville late in the afternoon and stopped 
at the Suwanee House, then a well-known hostelry, and 
then, after brushing off the dust of travel, I called at the 
office of the "Daily American," and presented a letter of 
introduction to a Mr. Shepard, who was then its business 
manager. He received me kindly and invited me to his 
house, and gave me all the information I needed to find 
my cousin, who was located at Neeley's Bend, some six 
miles up the river. The next day he introduced me to a 
planter who lived in the neighborhood, who proposed to 
show me the way. So I procured a saddle-horse and 
went with him. 

In those days, carriages were rarely used and horse- 
back riding was the almost universal method of locomo- 
tion, both for men and women. The civilization of the 
old slaveholding South was as different from that of the 
North as that of England from France. Unlike the 
North, the cultivated, educated and traveled people lived 
on the plantations and not in the cities. In that respect 
it resembled England rather than the North. I^ike the 
nobility and country squires of England, the planters 



UFE IN TENNKSS3K. 3 1 

looked upon city people engaged in trade or manufacture 
as social inferiors rather than equals. The best lands, as 
a rule, were in large plantations, and were cultivated by 
slaves, and resembled in many ways the old baronial es- 
tates of England. As a rule, white men did not culti- 
vate the land, and when they did not own slaves they 
hired them from those who did to do their work. 

The poor whites, who neither owned nor hired slaves, at 
least in Middle Tennessee, were denizens of the worthless 
lands, and were the hangers-on of the plantations, and as 
a rule, they made a living by illicit traffic with the slaves 
and by hunting and fishing. They were despised by the 
slaves as ' 'poor white trash' ' and were annoyances to the 
planters. In short, the planters were the ruling class in 
all the slave states, and this exercise of power and au- 
thority, as in the old Grecian republics, developed a type 
of civilization which in many respects was noble and ele- 
vating. With wealth and leisure and slaves at command, 
they were generous and hospitable, and made their 
homes attractive to friends and visitors. In public life, 
as a rule, they were honorable, patriotic and trustworthy. 
They were too proud to steal and too brave to deceive, 
and the result was the production of such men as Wash- 
ington, Jefferson, Jackson and Clay, and scores of others 
of a similar type. In short, they had the virtues of the 
feudal system as well as its vices. 

The plantation of Mr. Neely was on the north side of 
the Cumberland river, and around it the river made a 
curve which was known as Neely's Bend. At this point 
was a ferry which we did not reach until nightfall, and 
here for the first time I heard the weird boat cry of a 
negro ferryman in answer to our call. He took us over 
safely and a short ride brought us to Mr. Neely's house, 
where I found my cousin, Hardenberg Parsell, and re- 
ceived a hospitable welcome from Mr. Neely. Here I 



32 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

remained for a week or two, mostly in the house, nursing 
a bad cold and a quinsy throat. 

Parsell was teaching a select school in the neighbor- 
hood with Mr. Neely as his principal patron. Knowing 
of my coming and its purpose, he had made inquiry and 
had heard of a vacant school an Hendersonville, some 
ten miles away to the northwest in Sumner county, and, 
therefore, when I had recovered, we rode over to that 
neighborhood to see what could be done. We went first 
to a Dr. Graham, one of the trustees of the school, and 
he advised us to see General Donelson, as the most im- 
portant person interested in the school. We found the 
general was absent from home, and his wife informed us 
that nothing would be done until his return some days 
later. Mrs. Donelson invited us to dinner and treated 
us very handsomely. I told her my story, and she en- 
couraged me to remain until the general returned. She 
seemed interested in me, and I certainly was in her. 
She was a middle-aged woman, of fine presence, and evi- 
dently had been well educated and trained. She was the 
daughter of Governor Branch of Florida, who had also 
been United States Senator from North Carolina and 
Secretary of the Navy under President Jackson. 

On our return to Dr. Graham's, he invited me to re- 
main at his house until General Donelson should return, 
so I sent my horse home with Parsell, and made myself 
at home with the doctor and enjoyed myself immensely. 
I hunted in the woods, and fished in the river, and 
made the acquaintance of various families in the neigh- 
borhood. 

In a few days, I was invited to a wedding and escorted 
the doctor's niece. We went on horseback, and there 
were at least a dozen couples, and we had several miles 
to ride. After the wedding, we went to the "infair," as 
they called it, at the house of the groom's father, and of 



I^IFE IN TENNESSEE. 33 

course I was initiated into the customs of a social life 
entirely new to me. The boundless hospitality of the 
old South, as contrasted with that of the North, was very 
striking and very attractive. 

In due time General Donelson returned, and a confer- 
ence was held by the directors of the Hendersonville 
school, which resulted in the selection of a competing 
candidate who had local influence through relatives and 
friends in the neighborhood, and it was also surmised 
that politics was a potential factor. The result was an- 
nounced to me by one of the directors by the name of 
L,yle, who was a planter in the neighborhood, whose ac- 
quaintance I had made. I told him I would have been 
glad to have had it otherwise, but still I was more than 
repaid for my stay among them by the pleasant ac- 
quaintances I had made and the hospitality I had re- 
ceived. He asked me what I expected to do next, and 
I told him I would take the stage for Nashville in the 
afternoon. He told me not to be in a hurry, but go 
with him and call upon General Donelson, who might be 
of service to me, and then if I wanted to go anywhere, 
he would furnish me a horse. Do you see that mare, he 
asked, pointing to the animal near by ? Yes, I said, and 
she is a beauty. Yes, he replied, she is the finest thun- 
derbolt mare in Tennessee. I have refused fifteen hun- 
dred dollars for her. You can have her to ride until you 
get located, and then you can send her home. 

This was Tennessee hospitality. Here was a man who 
had never seen me but once, and knew nothing of my 
antecedents, and yet he was willing to back me on sight 
with property and friendship. Where, except in the old 
South, would such a proposition be possible? And yet 
this was the spirit I met in my intercourse with the 
planters of Tennessee practically everywhere. We called 
3 



34 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

upon General Donelson, whom we found at his home. 
He was a large, fine-looking man, of about fifty years of 
age. He had been a graduate of the West Point Mili- 
tary Academy, ranking high in his class, and was a man 
of high character and ability, and ample means. He 
was connected by birth and marriage with some of the 
most influential families of the South. 

The Donelson family was one of the oldest in the 
state, being descended from Captain John Donelson, the 
founder of the city of Nashville, whose daughter, 
Rachel, became the wife of General Jackson. The 
brother of General Donelson was private secretary for 
General Jackson when President, and subsequently was 
United States minister at Berlin. The sisters of General 
Donelson were women of unusual ability and beauty. 
One was the wife of Judge Cahal of the high court of 
chancery; another married General Caruthers, of Leba- 
non, a leading lawyer; another, Dr. Allison, of Lebanon, 
a prominent physician, and still another was the wife of 
Dr. Hocket, one of the largest planters and slaveholders 
in the state, so that in securing the friendship of Gen- 
eral Donelson I obtained an influence of the highest 
value. I was not aware of this, however, when I made 
his acquaintance, but simply knew that he was considered 
an important factor in the community where he lived. 

The Donelson plantation was located between the Gal- 
latin pike and the Cumberland river, and the homestead 
buildings were a short half mile from the village of 
Henderson ville, now a station on the Louisville and 
Nashville Railroad, in Sumner county, about sixteen 
miles from Nashville. The general received us very 
cordially, invited us to dinner, and sent our horses to the 
stable. We remained with him several hours. He was 
a man of ability, and of large acquaintance with the 
leading men of the country, and withal, was a very en- 



UFE IN TKNN3SSKK. 35 

tertaining talker, so that he made our stay very pleas- 
ant. After dinner, he took up the school question, and 
expressed himself as very much dissatisfied with what 
had been done, and finally declared he would have noth- 
ing more to do with the Hendersonville school. He 
said he had a schoolhouse of his own on his own land, 
and if Mr. I^yle and other friends would join with him 
he saw no reason why they should not support a school 
of their own. 

To make a long story short, he proposed that I should 
take charge of such a school. He said his wife favored 
such arrangement, although they had only daughters to 
send to the school, and upon the whole he thought they 
could give me a fair support. At any rate, he would 
furnish the schoolhouse, and I could board with him 
free of expense, and he would pay me a stipulated 
amount, and I could get as many outside scholars as I 
could. 

At any rate, he would be glad to have me try it for one 
year, and see what would come of it. 

The result was I accepted his proposition and became 
an inmate of the family for the year, and had no cause to 
regret it. It was a delightful southern home, and they 
made my life with them very enjoyable. My school- 
room was a quarter of a mile away in a pleasant grove, 
and as my pupils were only about a score in number, I 
was not worked hard, and upon the whole I passed my 
time pleasantly and profitably. 

I had at command a gun and ammunition, and a 
splendid gray hunter to ride, so that I explored the 
woods and surrounding country, and soon made the ac- 
quaintance of the people for miles around, and had a 
good time generally. Mrs. Donelson's good-will for me, 
which gave me my start, grew out of my resemblance to 
her dead brother James, and there probably was a family 



36 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

resemblance, for Governor Branch, the father, looked 
more like my own father than any man I ever knew. 

So it happens in life that very little things shape our 

destiny, as I have found many times in my experience. 

We call them accidents, but Shakespeare was right when 

^^Vi^n^^C* ^ e declared: "Therein a Provi dence that shapes our 

f ends, rough hew them as we wilTT 5 

During the school year of ten months I passed with 
the Donelsons, nothing of special importance occurred to 
make or mar my fortune. I was a part and parcel of the 
daily routine of an intelligent and well-ordered family. 
We quite frequently had visitors, people of prominence 
in the state, and sometimes from other states. 

General Donelson was a Democrat in politics, and a 
man of large influence in the councils of his party. The 
Whig and Democratic parties were very evenly matched 
in Tennessee in those days, and party contests were very 
heated. It was the custom then, and a very good one, 
for rival candidates for governor, or for congress, to de- 
bate political questions before their constituents, and the 
year 1847 was memorable for the joint discussions of the 
two Browns, Aaron V. Brown, and Neil S. Brown, who 
were rival candidates for governor, the first a Democrat, 
and the second a Whig. 

I attended their debates at Gallatin, and became very 
much interested in the consideration of political ques- 
tions. Under this system of joint discussion, the voters 
had a much more intelligent comprehension of political 
questions than it is possible to get under the ex parte 
discussions almost universal at the North. The people, 
like a jury in a court of law, heard both sides, and de- 
cided according to the weight of evidence and argument. 
Of course I soon became familiar with the peculiarities of 
the slaveholding civilization around me. 
. Society was more distinctly stratified than in a free 



UFE IN TENNESSEE. 37 

state. First, the whites and blacks, between whom an 
impassable gulf was fixed, so far as civil and social rights 
were concerned. The whites were then subdivided into 
three grand divisions, but the boundaries were not im- 
passable. First, the slaveholding planters, who were 
often educated at Northern colleges, and were polished 
by foreign travel and were practically the ruling class, 
and gave their lives to politics, and were the lawmakers 
and statesmen of their section. With these the lawyers, 
preachers, doctors might be classed. Next to them were 
the merchants, manufacturers and small planters who oc- 
cupied a position similar to the middle class in England. 
They were not the nobility, but were next to them, and 
in many ways intermingled with them. 

Of course, money counted for a good deal in the old 
South as it does in the North to-day, but money alone 
was not a passport to the best society. A disreputable 
calling was more of a ban upon a man than it is now in 
most of our cities. For example, there was a rich man 
near Gallatin who had made himself rich by trading in 
negro slaves, and yet he was a social pariah. He was 
not personally a disagreeable man, and his wife was a 
woman of good family, and of many attractions, but 
their fine establishment and the money that supported it 
came of negro trading, a calling that the slaveholding 
planters tolerated, but despised as heartily as the old 
Egyptians despised the embalmers of their dead. 

The poor whites, or "the poor white trash," as they 
were called by the negroes, I have already referred to. 
They were not numerous in Middle Tennessee, and yet 
every community had a few. They were not tramps or 
gypsies, and yet they had some of the characteristics of 
both of these nomads. They hunted and fished, and car- 
ried on a contraband trade with the negroes, and as petty 
thieves on the plantations could manage to get a little 



38 RECOIXECTIONS OF A UFBTIMB. 

whisky in exchange for their plunder. They had votes, 
and in close elections they were coddled by the politi- 
cians, and in that way secured toleration, and some ma- 
terial help. They were a queer lot, and yet, like their 
prototypes, the tramps and gypsies, they seemed to enjoy 
life, and would hardly change for something better if 
they had an opportunity. 

Naturally, it would be supposed that this class of peo- 
ple would sympathize with the slaves in any desire they 
might have for freedom. But such was not the fact; on 
the contrary, the most ultra proslavery people in the 
South were the poor whites. I could talk with the large 
planters with entire freedom, and discus? the evils of 
slavery fully, but to a man who never owned a slave, and 
never expected to own one, it was dangerous to mention 
the subject except in commendation. With the poor 
white his color was the only badge of superiority over 
the slave. Freedom to the slave meant degradation to 
the poor white, and, therefore, to him, the mere sugges- 
tion of freedom to the slave was an unpardonable sin; 
and it was this feeling that made them the fiercest rebels 
in the Confederate armies of the great rebellion. 

In Eastern Tennessee, and in other mountain regions 
of the South where there were but few slaves, the poor 
whites were of a different nature, and to a large extent 
were unfriendly to slavery and slaveholders, but it was 
hot so elsewhere. In my hunting excursions I came to 
know some of the leading spirits among the poor whites, 
and my taste for hunting and fishing pleased them. I 
am quite sure I was neither a bold rider nor a good marks- 
man, but they thought I was, and my reputation as such 
was a passport to their good will. General Donelson's 
splendid gray hunter would give any body a send off who 
could sit in a saddle, but their faith in my skill with the 
rifle was based almost entirely upon an accidental shot 



UFE IN TKNNKSSEE. 39 

which picked a squirrel from the top of a tall tree after 
one of their best marksmen had failed to dislodge him. 
As a fisherman I really had skill, which I had acquired in 
early years, and I was discreet enough to keep within my 
limitations, and in that way maintained a friendly footing 
with this particular class of people. 

I,ife in the country in Tennessee, as I found it, was 
far more interesting than I had been accustomed to, 
among the hard-working farmers of the North, and I 
enjoyed it immensely, and made the most of it. My 
associations, in the main, were at the top, where there 
was ample leisure, considerable culture, and a free-handed 
hospitality, and I was too young to vex myself very 
much with the rights and wrongs of other people, and 
therefore enjoyed the life that came to me, and was 
happy and content. 

In saying this, however, it does not follow that I was 
blind to the defects of this Southern civilization, or that 
I considered it preferable to what I had been accustomed 
to at the North; but I simply indicate that my own par- 
ticular environment was agreeable, and upon the whole, 
as a formative influence, was helpful and not hurtful. 
My associations, for the most part, were with the Don- 
elson family and their friends and relatives, and beyond 
these my intimacies were few in number, and my time 
was too much occupied to allow any large familiarity 
with the social life outside. The young men of my own 
age, as a rule, were a careless, happy-go-lucky, fox-hunt- 
ing, pleasure-loving crowd, without any special occupa- 
tion or aim in life, and for such I never had any special 
affinity; and so, whilst I kept on good terms with them, 
I excused myself from any large participation in their 
pursuits or pleasures. 

The friends of General Donelson whom I met at his 
house or elsewhere were mostly people of mature years, 



40 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

and of responsible position in life, and as members of 
the ruling class they considered and discussed the various 
problems of the civilization for which they were respon- 
sible. These problems were never more serious than 
at this time. The Mexican war w T as in progress, and 
it was evident that its conclusion would bring large 
accessions of territory to the United States, and of course 
this involved all the questions pertaining to the exten- 
sion of slavery beyond the existing limitations. In 
fact, Texas was already one of the United States, having 
been annexed by act of Congress in December, 1845, 
and California was acquired by conquest a year later, so 
that questions pertaining to their future political status 
were the main topics for consideration among Southern 
statesmen when I came to Tennessee. 

The people of the South were practically unanimous in 
desiring to extend slavery into the newly-acquired terri- 
tories, but for different reasons. A great many slave- 
holders, and probably a majority, did not believe in 
slavery as a desirable institution to perpetuate. They saw 
its evils, but could not see how to get rid of them, and 
therefore, when they saw the probable acquirement of 
such continental acquisitions of new territorty as Texas, 
California, and intervening lands, they hailed it with 
joy as an opportunity to reduce slavery in the old states 
by emigration to the new. 

Another class of Southern men, under the leadership 
of John C. Calhoun and his coterie, believed in slavery 
per se, and taught the doctrine that a slave empire ruled 
by the Anglo-Saxon race was the highest attainable civ- 
ilization under existing conditions. The negroes, they 
insisted, were inferior by nature, and wholly unfitted for 
self-government, and that freedom to them simply meant 
a return to African barbarism, and therefore the safety 
of the whites and the welfare of blacks required that 



UFE IN TENNESSEE. 41 

slavery should be perpetuated. The leaders of this ultra 
proslavery propaganda were not only aggressive, but 
they were sagacious enough to see that slavery never 
could be safe unless its upholders could retain the control of 
the general government; and they saw also that the time 
must come in the not very distant future when the South 
would be in a minority, and hence they were already 
shaping events for the ultimate separation of the slave 
from the free states. Of course this purpose was not 
openly avowed, and was only discussed in private among 
themselves. 

I remember, as if it were yesterday, when the secret 
was revealed to me. It was in the early autumn or late 
summer of 1847. A number of prominent gentlemen 
were at General Donelson's to meet Governor Branch, of 
Florida, the father of Mrs. Donelson, and her brother, 
Wm. Branch, who was afterwards a brigadier-general in 
the Confederate arttty and was killed at the second Bull 
Run fight. 

After dinner, we all went out under the wide-spreading 
branches of a magnificent elm in front of the house, to 
smoke cigars and talk. The whole party were followers 
of Calhoun, and were men of mark. It was Saturday, 
and I was at liberty to spend the afternoon with them. 
The talk, as usual, ran upon current political questions. 
Presently General Donelson's negro boy, "Joe," came in 
from Henderson ville with the mail, and with the package 
came a newspaper, containing a speech or letter or deliv- 
erance of some kind from Mr. Calhoun upon pending 
issues. My recollection is that it was the ' 'Washington 
Globe," but congress could not have been in session at 
that time, and therefore it could hardly have contained a 
report of a speech in the senate. However, the party 
around me called for the reading of Mr. Calhoun's 
speech, and I was appointed the reader. 



42 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

What the speech was about I do not now remember, 
beyond the fact that it presented the extreme views of 
that great thinker upon the slave question with a logic 
and power which no one else could command. At any 
rate, it captured my hearers and started a conversation, 
and interchange of ideas that opened up to me for the 
first time a fair comprehension of the ultimate designs of 
the ultra proslavery men of the South. They had a 
magnificent dream of empire, which, in brief, contem- 
plated the use of the government of the United States, 
so long as they could control it, for the acquisition of 
slave territory, and this included not only Texas and 
California, but all between them, and then in addition 
the Island of Cuba. This scheme included also, some- 
where in the future, the acquisition of Mexico and Cen- 
tral America, with the Gulf of Mexico as an inland sea 
of the mighty oligarchy which was to come. 

In the New Republic, as they were pleased to call it, 
the masses of the people, as in ancient Athens, were to 
be slaves; but, unlike Athens, slaves were to be black, 
so that the white men who were to rule would have a 
patent of nobility in their color alone. In the realiza- 
tion of this scheme, the first thing to be done was to se- 
cure to slavery all the territory to be acquired from 
Mexico; but to this there were obstacles. 

To reach California, at that time, the only practicable 
way seemed to be the overland route, via St. Louis, In- 
dependence and the Santa Fe trail, and that would take 
them through Kansas north of the Missouri Compromise 
line of 36 degrees and 30 minutes, and the Supreme 
Court of the United States had decided that a slave taken 
upon free soil by his master became, ipso facto, a free 
man. To remove this obstacle, the only practicable 
method seemed to be the repeal of the Missouri Compro- 
mise and make a slave state of Kansas. These visions 



UFE IN TENNESSEE. 43 

of empire were not idle dreams, as we learned a few 
years later. 

The repeal of the Missouri Compromise, in all human 
probability, would have carried Kansas and California 
and intervening territories to the slave oligarchy, except 
for the discovery of gold, which carried with it that 
enormous rush of emigrants of freemen from the north- 
ern states. It was God Almighty, and not northern 
wisdom, that thwarted the schemes of the slave oli- 
garchy. The Calhoun school of southern statesmen at 
this time were doubtless largely in the minority, but they 
were bold, aggressive and very able. They were at the 
same time cautious and skillful, and marshaled events 
with such consummate skill that when the time came for 
action, they were able to control the political forces of 
the country and secure the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise line, and open for themselves a highway through 
Kansas to the vast territories acquired from Mexico. 
The discovery of gold, however, not only poured into 
this highway an overwhelming tide of freeman from the 
North, but it also whitened the seas with emigrant ships 
around Cape Horn, and, later on, to and from the 
Isthmus. 

All this is history now, but the conspiracy for the dis- 
fr ruption of the Union was not known to the country at 
large until it was announced by the roar of cannon in 
the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April, 1861, nearly 
fourteen years after its revelation to me on that sunny 
afternoon in 1847. Possibly I did not comprehend it 
fully at that time, but it helped to shape my destiny 
farther on. 

Dueling in Tennessee, in my time there, was under the 
ban of the law, but its spirit remained in full force in 
encounters known as street fights, which in a large por- 
tion of the South still prevails, and, in some respects, is 



44 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

more barborous than the formal duels. The street fights 
require that the offended party, instead of sending a 
formal challenge, shall notify his antagonist that he will 
kill him on sight. Both parties then arm themselves, 
and when they meet, the battle begins, and only ends 
when one or both are "kors de combat." 

I had a notice of this kind sent to me, but the sender 
knew when he got sober that he had made a fool of him- 
self, and finally apologized. General Donelson, however, 
furnished me a six-shooter, and proposed to stand by me 
in case of attack, but nothing came of it, and I was not 
sorry; still, I had done no wrong, and would have had 
no compunctions of conscience in defending myself. 

The duel in all its forms is a relic of the bloody cus- 
toms of the middle ages, and possibly had its origin in 
the provisions of Jewish law in regard to avengers of 
blood, but it is really an absurd as well as a cruel custom, 
and ought to come to an end. Among English-speaking 
races it is already practically ended, except in our own 
Southern States, and even there it is weakening year by 
year. 

Governor Branch, although he was not specially bril- 
liant or profound, was agreeable and interesting, and a 
most excellent man in private life. As a Senator from 
North Carolina for six years and a Secretary of the Navy 
under Jackson, he had seen much of public life and knew 
personally nearly all the leading public men of his time. 
He was appointed Governor of the Territory of Florida 
in 1843, and when I knew him he resided in Tallahassee. 
In summer he was accustomed to travel north as far as 
Saratoga, and then with the approach of autumn he 
would return to Florida via Tennessee, where he visited 
his daughter, Mrs. Donelson. 

At the time I met him he was about sixty-five years of 
age, and I never saw him again. He lived for many 



UFK IN TKNNKSSKK. 45 

years after that and died in 1863. I have heard that two 
of his sons, L,awrence and William, were generals in the 
Rebel army, and were both killed. His son-in-law, 
General Reed, had been killed in a duel some years be- 
fore I knew him, and Mrs. Reed, a sad-faced, quiet 
women, was with him. He was kind to me, and his 
resemblence to my father in person and spirit attached 
me to him very much. 

My school year of ten months with the Donelsons was 
coming to an end, and I made up my mind to go else- 
where. The General insisted upon my remaining, but I 
told him what he was paying me would employ a gover- 
ness for his own children with much better results than 
was possible under the existing arrangement, and with 
his help I could do better for myself elsewhere. 

My first idea was to seek the charge of the academy 
at Gallatin, but just then I heard of a vacancy at the 
Hermitage, w T hich for many reasons was more attractive 
to me, and so armed with a letter of introduction to 
Andrew Jackson, Jr., I crossed the river and rode up to 
the Hermitage. The General's recommendation proved 
ampry sufficient, and I closed a contract with him for a 
year, and in a few days took up my residence at the 
Hermitage as tutor for the Hermitage boys. These boys 
were four in number. Two of them, Andrew and Sam- 
uel, were sons of Mr. Jackson, and the other two, 
William and Andrew, were sons of Mrs. Adams, who 
was a widowed sister of Mrs. Jackson, who made her 
home at the Hermitage. The two older boys were about 
fifteen or sixteen years old, and the younger, twelve or 
thirteen. The Jackson's had a daughter also, Rachel, 
but she was absent at school in Virginia. 



46 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Hermitage. 

A plantation home — Early history of the Hermitage — My life at the 
Hermitage — Mrs. Andrew Jackson, Jr. — The Jackson family — 
Political views of the Jacksons — Judge Phillips — Slavery in the 
South. 

The Hermitage plantation at this time comprised, per- 
haps, a thousand acres, and had been selected by General 
Jackson at an early day on account of its location and 
fertility. At his death in 1845, this estate, together with 
another plantation in Mississippi, and other property in 
Tennessee, and all his slaves, came into possession of his 
adopted son by will. The Hermitage property was kept 
in order and cultivated by some fifty slaves, and all its 
appointments were of the best. In fact, at that time, I 
presume there was no estate in Tennessee of superior at- 
tractions. 

Andrew Jackson, Jr., was a nephew of Mrs. Jackson, 
and was adopted by the General when an infant, and he 
became his heir at his death. His twin brother, Samuel 
Donelson, when I was at the Hermitage, resided in Phila- 
delphia, but I never met him. 

Andrew Jackson, Jr., although he never made any 
special figure in the world, was a man of fair ability and 
excellent character. He was a gentleman in the true 
sense of the term; a kind husband and father, a good 
neighbor, a rather too-confiding friend, and in all re- 
spects was a worthy citizen, and an upright, useful, 
Christian man. 



THE HERMITAGE. 47 

Mrs. Andrew Jackson, Jr., was a Miss York, of Phila- 
delphia, and went to the White House as the wife of the 
adopted son of the president during his first term of of- 
fice. She was a woman of beauty, refinement and cul- 
ture, and was in every respect fitted to adorn the position 
she occupied. She was a great favorite with the Gen- 
eral, and to the day of his death she remained the trusted 
and unquestioned head of his household affairs. 

The history of the Hermitage household prior to my 
residence there is interesting, but it is not a part of my 
own personal experiences. I wrote it up, however, quite 
fully thirty years ago, and it was published in 1871, 
in the early numbers of a weekly journal, called "The 
Capital," established and edited by Donn Piatt and 
George Alfred Townsend, at Washington, D. C. These 
articles also contain a good deal of my own experiences 
at the Hermitage, and in fact were headed "Three 
Years at the Hermitage;" but still I will not repeat 
what is already in print beyond what is necessary to 
indicate my environment and connect the thread of my 
story. 

Our schoolroom was the library which remained sub- 
stantially as it was when General Jackson died two years 
before. A large front window overlooked the garden in 
which was the General's tomb. There were two doors, 
one opening into the hall, and the other into the Gen- 
eral's room, where he died. The spaces between doors 
and windows were filled with book-cases and books. A 
writing table and half a dozen chairs constituted the 
furniture. One of the chairs was a relic of President 
Washington, having been his office chair. It was a 
large, leather-covered armchair, and very comfortable 
for use. It was a sunny, pleasant room, and here for 
nearly three years I passed the larger portion of my wak- 
ing hours. 



48 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

My pupils were bright, cheerful well-behaved boys, and 
as there were only four of them, my duties were not onerous 
and I had ample opportunity for reading and studying for 
my own improvement. My own experience is that the 
work of teaching, faithfully done, educates the teacher as 
much as it does his pupils, and I certainly found it so, 
and I have always believed that the years I spent in 
teaching were as useful as a college course. 

It is true, my opportunities at the Hermitage were ex- 
ceptionally good, not only in the schoolroom, but in the 
family and social life of which I was a part; but still for 
a young man, the discipline, attention and self control 
essential to success as a teacher cannot be otherwise than 
helpful to his mental and moral growth. My life at the 
Hermitage was so even in its tenor, so placid in all its 
ongoings, so free from cares, or exciting incidents, that 
one day was very much like every other day, and all were 
sunny and agreeable. In fact, my Hermitage life, to a 
large extent, was the realization of the poet's dream: 

"Oh, for a bright little isle of our own, 
In the blue summer ocean far out and alone." 

I have no doubt the people around me, in the house or 
on the plantation, had the anxieties and troubles com- 
mon to humanity, but they did not extend to me. 
Everybody, whether white or black, was considerate of 
my comfort and happiness, and I cannot recall a single 
unpleasant incident or unkind word calculated in the 
slightest to mar the serenity of my life. 

Notwithstanding all this, my life was by no means a 
dull monotony. The schoolroom, of course, was my 
central occupation, and its requirements were amply 
sufficient for the fullest activity of head and heart. 
Outside of the schoolroom, mornings and evenings, and 
Saturdays, the forests, and fields, and rivers invited us 



THE) HERMITAGE. 49 

to outdoor enjoyments, of which we were not slow in ac- 
cepting. 

On Saturday, especially, Mr. Jackson and I, together 
with one or more of the boys, often rode for miles 
through the Cumberland and Stone river bottoms in 
search of game, and enjoyed ourselves immensely in the 
crisp air of autumn or early winter. 

At the Hermitage I acquired a taste for natural history 
and made it a special study whilst there, and it has been 
delightful to me ever since. The books in the library 
indicated that General Jackson had a taste for such 
studies, and among these books was a set of Audubon's 
superb volumes upon "The Birds of America," which 
afforded me every opportunity to identify the feathered 
denizens of the surrounding country. I dabbled also in 
botany, geology and entomology, but without an in- 
structor I could not make much progress. Still I came 
into contact with nature more intelligently than I other- 
wise would, and made an acquaintance with her that has 
been a joy to me ever since. 

In the house we had much to interest us outside of 
the schoolroom. Visitors without number came to the 
Hermitage to see the tomb and home of Jackson, and of 
these, such as were known to the family or had letters 
of introduction, many were invited into the house, and to 
have distinguished people at dinner with us was the rule 
rather than the exception. Among these I remember an 
English lord, and a Russian count, and various other 
dignitaries from our own and other countries. 

One of our educational amusements, at our meals when 
alone, and elsewhere, when together, was to criticize 
each other as to grammar and pronunciation, and from 
it we profited not a little. I know I did, and the habit 
of accuracy in pronunciation thus acquired has remained 
4 



50 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

with me ever since, and I rarely hear a speaker I cannot' 
correct. 

Mrs. Jackson was a very accomplished woman. She 
was born and raised and educated in Philadelphia, and 
after her marriage was at the White House several years 
as its mistress; and, of course, as ' 'the first lady in the 
land," she was the head of social life of Washington 
City. 

With the close of Jackson' s term of office, in March, 
1837, sne l e ft Washington thoroughly tired of fashion- 
able life, and came to the Hermitage, delighted with 
the quiet domestic life it afforded,' and I have often 
heard her rejoice in the exchange thus made. Her hus- 
band fully sympathized with her in her preference of 
home over public life, and so they were contented and 
happy in the quiet enjoyment of the Hermitage. Mrs. 
Jackson at this time was a year or two under forty, and 
Mr. Jackson was a year or two over forty, and both were 
in full health and vigor. Mrs. Jackson was a fine con- 
versationalist, and was full of reminiscences of Washing- 
ton and Hermitage life and of famous people she had 
met. She abounded also in anecdotes of General Jack- 
son, and if I had been wise enough to have kept a record 
of these talks, I could give the world a much better 
idea of Jackson as he really was than it is likely to get. 
I was a good listener and she was a good talker, and so 
between us we got along famously together, and almost 
every day I was entertained and instructed by her con- 
versations, and sometimes on a rainy Saturday for many 
continuous hours. 

Mrs. Adams was older than her sister, Mrs. Jackson, 
and was of a different temperament. She was a woman 
of good sense and judgment, but was quiet and sedate. 
Her married life had not been happy, and she was now a 
widow and dependent upon the Jacksons for a home. 



THE HKRMITAGK. 5 1 

These families, however, lived together as one house- 
hold in perfect unity and harmony, and so far as I could 
detect without the slightest friction. The Jacksons and 
Mrs. Adams were all members of the Presbyterian 
Church and were exemplary Christians. 

The home life of the Hermitage was admirable in 
every way, and continued such until the cyclone of war 
tore it all to pieces. The Hermitage family and the 
Donelson family were quite dissimilar in their tastes, 
habits, aspirations and general tone. Both were ad- 
mirable in their way, and both were very kind to me. 
The Jacksons were essentially a religious people, and made 
their enjoyment and employment mainly in the care and 
management of their children and in the direction and 
control of the half a hundred slaves upon the plantation. 
Of course they necessarity entertained largely, and took 
pleasure in having friends and visitors about them and 
making them happy. Political ambitions, if they ever 
had any, seemed fully gratified in what they had ex- 
perienced with General Jackson and the consideration 
they still received. 

In the political controversies of the time they took no « 
active participation beyond maintaining emphatically the 
ideas inculcated and illustrated by General Jackson. 
This necessarily made them antagonistic to the Calhoun 
ideas of state sovereignty and the right of secession. 
I was often told by the Jacksons that the one thing | 
the General always regretted was that he had not 
hanged Calhoun for high treason during the nullifica- | 
tion times in South Carolina. The result was that the 
Jacksons were not friendly to Calhoun or his followers, 
and I do not remember that any of them ever visited the I 
Hermitage whilst I was there. 

The Donelson family, on the other hand, were ardent 
followers of Calhoun, and General Donelson was one of 



52 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the ablest of the Calhoun leaders in Tennessee, and was 
ambitious of political advancement. The Donelsons 
whilst they were not irreligious yet the atmosphere of 
the home was not distinctly Christian as it was at the 
Hermitage. The disciples of Calhoun w T ere not nu- 
merous in Tennessee at this time, but they comprised 
some of the most influential members of the Democratic 
party, and were rapidly gaining adherents. A dozen 
years later the doctrine of state sovereignty had pro- 
gressed so far among the people as to enable its ad- 
vocates to carry the state into the vortex of secession. 
Of course it was neither proper nor prudent for me, in 
local controversy of this kind, to mix in. I had friends 
on both sides, and, therefore, contented myself with 
being a Democrat on general principles, and making 
myself a listener rather than a talker on political sub- 
jects. 

During the presidential contest of 1848, in which 
Cass was the candidate of the Democrats and Taylor of 
the Whigs, the question of the extension of slavery into 
the territories entered into the discussions somewhat, 
and the fact that Taylor was a slaveholder probably 
gave him preference in the South, but still he could not 
have been elected except for the defection of the Free- 
soil Democrats, under the leadership of Van Buren, 
which gave him the electoral votes of New York. I 
was not yet a voter, but still I was interested in the 
discussions and was friendly to the election of Cass. 

The next year (1849), when I became of age, I cast 
my first vote for William O. Trousdale, the Democratic 
candidate for governor. During these years I was fre- 
quently in Nashville, where I had friends and acquaint- 
ances. Nashville was about twelve miles away on the 
Lebanon Pike and was of easy access; and through the 
Jacksons I was in friendly relations with many of the 



THE HERMITAGE. 53 

best people. I knew also some of the large planters in 
Middle Tennessee and enjoyed visiting them, especially 
during the Christmas holidays. 

One of the most interesting men I have ever known 
was a Judge Phillips, who resided a few miles from Mur- 
freesboro, and was one of the largest slaveholders in the 
state. He was a man well advanced in life, but greatly 
enjoyed the companionship of young men. He had been 
prominent in the politics in the state, and had known 
personally all the leading men of his time. He was an 
aid to General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans, and 
was a close friend of Jackson throughout his career. His 
recollections of Jackson and his times were endless, and 
his knowledge of the statesmen and the statesmanship of 
the first half of the present century was so comprehen- 
sive, that it was exceedingly interesting to hear him. I 
have spent hours, and even whole days, in listening to 
him without weariness. Of all the men I have met I 
have never known a broader, wiser, or more philosophic 
thinker than Judge Phillips. Although he was a large 
slaveholder, there was no one, not even Jefferson, who 
was more conscious of the dangers and evils of slavery, 
and to him more than any one else I owe my early anti- 
slavery convictions. His visions of coming events were 
almost prophetic, but he could see no way to avert the 
deluge. My days with Judge Phillips were a liberal ed- 
ucation upon political and historical subjects, and I have 
always remembered him with gratitude. 

Slavery, as I saw it, was not the unmitigated evil it 
has been considered by Northern people. Certainly to 
the slaves themselves their condition was far preferable 
to what it would have been among their kinsmen in Africa, 
and nowhere in the world's history has the negro race 
been so well cared for, or so fully protected, or so highly 
civilized, as they have been in the United States. 



54 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Probably there was no other possible way in which this 
could have been accomplished except in the compulsory 
school of slavery. We think of them as having been 
torn from family, friends, and country, but we should 
remember that in their removal to a southern plantation 
their condition was so vastly improved that, comparatively 
speaking, it was a change from hell to heaven. 

Slavery, as I saw it, was rarely cruel. As a rule, the 
slaves were kindly cared for, and were all fairly well fed, 
housed, and clothed. The labor required of them was 
not one-half of what was expected of free labor in the 
North, and for this reason an overseer from the North 
was far more exacting than white men of the South. 

The truth is, the negro race,, in the compulsory school 
of slavery, has been elevated to a plane of civilization 
higher than it has ever attained elsewhere in the world's 
history, and now that the negro has graduated into free- 
dom and full citizenship, the hope of his future lies in 
the training and discipline he received in bondage as 
much as in anything we can do for him now. In fact, 
without that preliminary training, he could do but very 
little, or at the best nothing more, than has been done in 
Africa. 

Slavery to the negro was a civilizer, and undoubtedly 
elevated him far above his previous condition of savagery, 
but to the whites, as a whole, it was a great curse in al- 
most every direction. It corrupted morals, degraded 
labor, stifled enterprise, and so handicapped the indus- 
trial development of the South, that, with all its su- 
perior advantages by nature, it steadily fell behind its 
northern competitors. 

Doubtless, in the future, when the relations between 
the two races are harmoniously adjusted, the South will 
regain much, and possibly all, that was lost by slavery; 



THF HERMITAGE). 55 

but, in the nature of things, it will require several gen- 
erations to accomplish this result. 

The negro problem is a perplexing one, but I have 
the faith to believe that Christianity and education will 
solve it in due time. It may be a long time, but pa- 
tience and perseverance, together with the cordial co- 
operation of Christian people, North and South, will con- 
quer in the end. In the main, the negro problem must 
be solved by the white people of the South. We of the 
North can help them by maintaining schools, and espe- 
cially industrial and normal schools for the training of 
colored teachers, and theological schools for the prepara- 
tion of preachers for colored churches. Probably the 
greatest bar to progress, at the present time, is the igno- 
rance and immorality of the old-time colored preachers, 
with whom emotional demonstrations are far more im- 
portant than any observance of the requirements of the 
decalogue. 



56 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER V. 

General Jackson's Home Life. 

Jackson's inner life — Wife of General Jackson — The Jackson Cem- 
etery — The Hermitage servants — "Alfred, the overseer " — Gen- 
eral Jackson's later life — Closing scenes — Return to my early 
home — Plantation life — The Jackson children. 

General Jackson died two years before I came to the 
Hermitage, and I never knew him personally, but living, 
as I did for three years, in daily association with his 
family and friends, I learned a great deal about his pri- 
vate life, and personal characteristics, that were very in- 
teresting to me, and may be to others. Even the public 
life of Jackson has failed to get into history in a shape 
to do him the justice he deserves. 

Mr. Parton has done the best by far of any who have 
attempted it, but he fails to comprehend the spirit of the 
man. The portrait he gives us, like a shadow on the 
wall, is doubtless correct, as far as it goes, as a mere 
outline, but, like a shadow on the wall, it has no breath 
in it. ' 'There is no speculation in those eyes. ' ' That 
nameless something which we call individuality is largely 
wanting, or, at least, is grossly perverted. 

The man Jackson, as he appeared to his family and to 
those of his contemporaries who were nearest to him, was 
a very different man from what is revealed of him in any 
histories yet written, and his countrymen will have to 
wait for some future Motley or Macaulay to do him jus- 
tice. Jackson himself expected his close friend, Francis 
P. Blair, Sr. , would write the history of his public life, 
and for that purpose put him in possession of the neces- 



GKNERAI, JACKSON'S HOMK UFE. 57 

sary materials for such a work. Why Mr. Blair failed to 
fulfill those expectations, I do not know. 

It has been said by some one that "No man is a hero 
to his wife or to his valet. ' ' My own conviction, however, 
is that a man who is not a hero to his wife and his valet 
is no hero at all, but is a sham and a fraud. A real hero, 
worthy of the name, is the more a hero the nearer you 
approach his inner life. This was precisely the case with 
Jackson, in my experience, at the Hermitage. To the 
Jackson household, from the least to the greatest, white 
or black, as they knew him, he was the model man of 
the world, and especially so in all the relations of home 
life. 

When I went to the Hermitage, the wife of General 
Jackson had been dead for nearly twenty years, and yet 
the aroma of her presence filled the air and penetrated 
every nook and corner of the neighborhood. I have 
often wondered what it was in this diffident, retiring, 
uncultured woman which so won all hearts which came 
within the sphere of her influence. She dominated the 
volcanic nature of her fiery husband as the sun the 
humid vapors of the morning. There never was a mo- 
ment in Jackson's married life but he would have died 
for her upon the rack or at the stake. Even in death, 
her influence ceased not, and her memory with Jackson, 
at the White House, was more powerful than congress, 
cabinets or kings. It controlled his passions; it curbed 
his tongue; it held him true to his convictions of right 
and duty; it kept ablaze the fires of Christian faith with 
the fuel of fond hopes of a reunion with her in a better 
world to come. 

In public and in private life, in the White House and 
at the Hermitage, down to the day of his death, Jackson 
never retired to rest at night without taking from his 
bosom the miniature portrait of his wife and placing it 



58 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

in a position, propped up against his Bible, so as to be 
the last thing seen when he went into the land of dreams 
and the first thing to greet him when the morning sun 
recalled the light. 

On his return home, after months of absence at Wash- 
ington, his first greetings were not to his family, not to 
his friends, not to his servants, but to the memory of 
her who slept beneath the little temple in the garden, 
and to which he wended his way as a weary pilgrim to a 
saintly shrine. The seclusion, the silence, and the 
solemnity of these visits, so far as I have heard, were 
never violated or profaned by the presence of inquiring 
eyes. 

This adoration of Jackson was not engendered by the 
absence of reciprocal affection from other women. He 
was no Caliban bewitched by Miranda because she was 
the only woman he had ever seen. Far from it. Gen- 
eral Jackson was a universal favorite among women. 
He was as courtly as Chesterfield and as chivalrous in 
his bearing as any knight who ever poised a lance. The 
cause must lie deeper. It must have been that Rachel 
Jackson possessed the qualities essential to the creation 
of a flame so grand. What were they ? I have often 
asked as I studied her portrait in the front parlor at the 
Hermitage. The portrait may have belied her, but her 
friends said not. At any rate, there was a stout woman 
with a kindly face, over which the breezes of fifty sum- 
mers had blown lightly, but there was no suggestion of 
any special beauty. The whole range of the floral 
kingdom presents no specimen for comparison, unless it 
is the humble dandelion opening its sunny petals in the 
grassy meadows of spring. 

After all, is not the dandelion a lovable flower as it 
looks up into your face so kindly in spring, and re- 
minds us the chilly winds of winter are gone? little 



GENERAL JACKSON'S HOME LIFE. 59 

children love it and bless it as they kiss the dews from 
its motherly face. At an}' rate, this was all the portrait 
told me, and perhaps it was all it needed to tell me as an 
addition to what I already knew of the womanly virtues 
of the original. Still, in her youth, Rachel Donelson 
(for that was her maiden name) must have had some 
physical attractions as well as mental, for without them 
she could hardly have made the commotion she did 
among the roaring blades of Nashville in those early 
days of Tennessee. 

However, I do not propose to go into that branch of 
the subject. Parton, and the political newspapers of the 
Jackson presidential times have done that with more 
than sufficient particularity. Suffice it to say, that no 
woman ever made a man a better wife than she did An- 
drew Jackson. For thirty-seven years (from 1791 to 
1828) they lived together in as happy a home as this 
world can know. Mrs. Jackson died in December, 1828, 
in the midst of the triumph of her husband's election to 
the highest office in the gift of the American people. 
Her death, doubtless, was hastened by the dastardly as- 
saults upon her fair fame, made by the public prints in the 
political controversies of the day. Her gentle spirit 
could not brook the ruthless slanders poured upon her 
head, and so she died. If anyone can read the glimpses 
of that death scene as given by faithful "old Hannah," 
in Parton' s life of Jackson, without, a mist in his eyes, I 
pity him. 

Over her grave in the little temple in the Hermitage 
garden is a plain marble slab, and upon it is an inscrip- 
tion, written by her husband, which is as follows: 

"Here lies the remains of Mrs. Rachel Jackson, wife 
of President Jackson, who died the 2 2d of December, 1828, 
aged sixty one. Her face was fair, her person pleasing, 
her temper amiable, her heart kind; she delighted in re- 



60 R3COU.KCTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

lieving the wants of her fellow-creatures, and cultivated 
that divine pleasure by the most liberal and unpretend- 
ing methods: to the poor she was a benefactor; to the 
rich an example; to the wretched a comforter; to the 
prosperous an ornament, her piety went hand in hand 
with her benevolence, and she thanked her Creator for 
being permitted to do good. A being so gentle and 
virtuous, slander might wound but not dishonor. Even 
death, when he tore her, from the arms of her husband, 
could but transport her to the bosom of her God." 

The Hermitage servants, two or three of whom I have 
already referred to, were about fifty in number, and were 
all slaves. Among them was George, who had been the 
General's body servant, and Charles, his carriage driver. 
Old Dick was another character, and had held various 
positions near the General, but his love of Robertson 
county whiskey interfered sadly with the permanency of 
his promotions. Poor old Charles, also, had a weakness 
in that direction. Hannah was the diningroom servant, 
and Aunt Gracy and Nancy were the patron saints of the 
sewing and chamber departments. From this list I ought 
not to exclude "Billy," who was a special attache of my 
own. He was as black as Erebus, and as mischievous and 
as supple as a kitten. He was the errand boy of the 
schoolroom, and game carrier in our hunting excur- 
sions. 

Outside of the house servants were the plantation 
hands of all grades, and consisted of men, women and 
children, of all ages and shades of color. The most 
noticeable among these was Alfred, who, in the absence 
of his master, acted as overseer: Alfred was a man of 
powerful physique, and had the brains and, executive 
powers of a major-general. He was thoroughly reliable, 
and was fully and deservedly trusted in the management 
of the plantation affairs. He had the easiest and most 



GENERAL JACKSON'S HOME) UFE>. 6 1 

honorable position possible for a slave, but he was far 
from being content. He thirsted for freedom. I re- 
member meeting him one evening as I strolled through 
the park. As usual, I accosted him pleasantly, and in- 
quired after various matters connected with his farm em- 
ployments. He seemed, however, unusually reticent and 
gloomy, and instead of answering my questions he 
changed the topic with the remark, "You white folks 
have easy times, don't you?" "Why so, Alfred?" I 
asked. "You have liberty to come and go as you will," 
he replied. I soon found that he was full of discontent 
with his lot, and I thought it wise to turn his attention 
to the brighter side. Therefore, I said, "You have a 
kind master, have you not?" "Yes, Massa Andrew is 
always very kind. ' ' ' 'You have a wife and children and 
a pleasant home, have you not ?' ' ' 'Yes, but who knows 
how long Massa Andrew will live?" I saw that the 
shadow of possible separation darkened his thought, and 
I took another tack. I showed him how freedom had its 
burdens as well as slavery; that God had so constituted 
human life that every one in every station had a load to 
carry, and that he was the wisest and the happiest who 
contentedly did his duty, and looked to a world beyond, 
where all inequalities would be made even. Alfred did 
not seem disposed to argue the question with me, or to 
combat my logic, but he quietly looked up into my face 
and popped this question at me, "How would you like 
to be a slave ? " It is needless to say I backed out as 
gracefully as I could, but I have never yet found an 
answer to the argument embodied in that question. 

General Jackson was a kind master, and fully recog- 
nized all of his Christian obligations in that relation. 
Under his rule slavery appeared in its least offensive 
form, and his dependents regarded him more in the light 
of a friend than a taskmaster. The convictions of 



62 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Jackson were adverse to the existence of the institution, 
but, like many other southern men, he could see no im- 
mediate way to emancipation except through evils greater 
than slavery itself; and so he waited for the developing 
processes of time, apprehensive, but hoping for a peace- 
ful solution of the problem. 

At the allotted age of three score years and ten, Jack- 
son left office and left Washington City, broken in health, 
and to some degree broken in fortune. Not a single day 
of health passed over him afterwards; in fact, almost 
every hour was filled with pain. The seven years of 
life which followed were years of retirement at his 
Hermitage home. Although his interest and influence 
in the politics of the country never left him, still his 
time, in the main, was devoted to home duties, such as 
the direction of his farm affairs, and kindly ministra- 
tions to his family and friends. He endeavored not only 
to supply but to anticipate every want of those around 
him. He was the peacemaker of the neighborhood and 
the friend and counselor of all. 

Mr. Parton has given us a very full and interesting 
account of these last days, but there is still another little 
anecdote, untold, which is exceedingly characteristic of 
Jackson's though tfulness for the comfort or pleasure of 
those around him. On the front verandah were a large 
number of beautiful flowers which Mrs. Jackson had 
cherished with much care. Some of them were rare 
exotics, brought by Commodore Barron from the Mediter- 
ranean sea. Two or three days before his death, Jackson 
called the attention of his adopted son to those flowers, as 
the fragrance of their summer bloom floated through the 
open window of the sick room. "My son," said the dying 
man, slowly and with gasping breath, "Sarah loves those 
flowers. At my funeral there will be many persons, and, 
unless the flowers are protected, the chances are they will be 



GENERAI, JACKSON'S HOME UFK. 63 

carried away as mementos; therefore, take them to the 
upper verandah and lock the door, and then they will be 
safe. ' ' 

Suffice it to say, these instructions were forgotten or 
neglected and the flowers were lost; but who, except 
Jackson, would have thought of such a thing at such a 
time? The flowers were lost, but the recollection of the 
kindly remembrance of Jackson at such an hour will 
bloom forever. 

And thus he died. 

In November, 1849, my father died, and for various 
reasons it seemed necessary that I should return to the 
north. I had been in Tennessee over three years, and 
had attained an age when it was important that I should 
recommence my legal studies if I expected to be a lawyer. 
There were strong inducements to make my home per- 
manently in Tennessee. I had as powerful friends, as 
any young man could reasonably desire, to push my 
fortunes, and it was suggested that I should attend the 
law school at Lebanon, with the understanding that a 
partnership could be arranged with a leading lawyer 
there, and with the assurance that I could have the back- 
ing of the leading families in Middle Tennessee. In 
fact, my opportunities for worldly success in Tennessee 
seemed very flattering, but still I knew that there was an 
irrepressible conflict between the civilization of the North 
and the South, and that sooner or later an explosion was 
inevitable, and in all probability it would come in my 
lifetime, and if so, where ought I to be? 

The more I thought about it the more I became con- 
vinced that the North rather than the South was the 
proper place for my life work, and so I shaped my affairs 
to leave Tennessee in the month of February, 1850. I 
left the Hermitage with many regrets. It had been a 



64 RECOLLECTIONS OE A LIFETIME. 

delightful home to me, and the months and years spent 
there are filled with pleasant memories. 

To one who has never had experience of plantation 
life, in the old slaveholding South, it is hard to under- 
stand the kindly relations which existed between the 
slaves and their master and his family. In fact, the 
slaves were a part of the family, and all, whether young 
or old, were treated with considerate care. Doubtless, 
there were cruel masters, as there are cruel fathers and 
mothers everywhere, but cruel masters were the rare ex- 
ceptions rather than the rule. 

It must be remembered also that the master was re- 
sponsible for the conduct of his slaves, and occupied the 
position of a magistrate in the maintenance of order and 
obedience to law. All misdemeanors, and all crimes ex- 
cept that of murder, committed by slaves, came under 
the jurisdiction of the master, and it was his duty to 
correct or punish. As a rule, when the lash was used, 
it was for offenses for which a free man would be sent to 
the penitentiary for a term of years or to the workhouse. 
So far as my observations extend, the masters were more 
lenient to slave offenders than the courts of free states 
were to white offenders. In short, the slave system as I 
saw it was the patriarchal system as depicted in Hebrew 
and Arabic history, but moderated and softened by a 
Christian civilization. 

In leaving the Hermitage, I not only shook hands with 
my white friends, but with my black friends also. Dear 
old Charles, the coachman, who occasionally fell into dis- 
grace through love of stimulants, and old Dick, who an- 
swered the door bell and piloted the visitors around the 
premises, both of them had been body servants of Gen- 
eral Jackson, and on account of faithful services were 
largely privileged characters. Hannah had charge of 
the dining-room, and Sarah of the sewing- room, and 



GKNBRAI, JACKSON'S HOME) UFE. 65 

Nancy of the chambers. Billy, a boy of twelve or fifteen 
summers, was as black as a coal, and was my errand boy 
and game carrier. I was attached to them all, and to 
many others who worked outside on the plantation, and 
in parting we parted as friends. 

I took a steamer at Nashville in company with Mr. 
Jackson, who went with me as far as Smithland at the 
mouth of the Cumberland, and there he left me to go to 
his cotton plantation in Mississippi, and I went on to 
Cincinnati, and never saw him again. In fact, I never 
saw any of the Hermitage family again, except Andrew, 
the oldest son, whom I met at the Hermitage in 1889, 
where he then resided with his family. 

Andrew was the oldest of the Jackson boys, and after 
I left the Hermitage he was appointed a cadet at West 
Point, and graduated well up in his class. In the rebel- 
lion he took the Confederate side, and came out a 
colonel. Samuel, his brother, was also in the Confeder- 
ate service, and died of disease. The two Adams boys 
also died in the Confederate service. Rachel, the oldest 
of the Jackson children, and whom I never met, married 
a Dr. Lawrence, who was surgeon in the Confederate 
army and died in the service. Rachel was left a widow 
with several children, and for a time after the war, I have 
been told, was a clerk in the Treasury Department, at 
Washington City. She was born in the White House, 
and was a great favorite with President Jackson. Rachel 
was named after her grandmother, and was the angel of 
the household to the President. Her mother told me 
that many a night, when the child was ill, the President 
rolled her little carriage through the great East Room, 
in defiance of the remonstrances of the mother and nurse, 
while the world gave him credit of dreaming fierce 
dreams of war to the knife against nullification or the 
United States Bank. "She likes it, and so do I," said 



66 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the man of war; and so the hours of the night were 
wiled away. 

The custom of the President was to retire at ten 
o'clock at night. At nine he left whatever company he 
had, and then Mrs. Jackson would read to him a chap- 
ter in the Bible, and they would sing a hymn together, 
and then, with a kind "Good night, my daughter," he 
went to his rest. A curious contrast, truly, to the "Gor- 
gon dire' ' pictured to us by the opposition newspapers of 
those stormy times. 

The father of Rachel, Andrew Jackson, Jr. , maintained 
his loyalty to the government, and died of an accidental 
gunshot wound received while hunting, near the close of 
the war. Mrs. Jackson, mother-like, sympathized with 
her children in their adherence to the Confederacy. She 
resided at the Hermitage until her death, in the summer 
of 1887. Mrs. Adams did not long survive her children, 
and died at the Hermitage. 

The Hermitage estate was ground to powder between 
the upper and nether millstones of war. The only part 
saved from the wreck was fifty acres surrounding the 
house and tomb of Jackson, which was purchased by the 
State of Tennessee, and is in charge of an association of 
ladies, who seek to preserve it in memory of Jackson, 
the same as Mount Vernon is preserved in memory of 
Washington. The State of Tennessee gave to Mrs. 
Jackson the occupancy of the Hermitage free of rent 
during her lifetime, and after her death Andrew re- 
mained some years as a tenant. The Hermitage, as I 
saw it in 1889, in comparison with the magnificent estate 
I knew so well, presented a spectacle so melancholy as 
to be simply indescribable. The ladies' association hope 
to preserve what is left and to restore it as far as possi- 
ble, and in this good work they should receive the en- 
couragement of all patriotic Americans. 



AT TH£ NORTH AGAIN. 67 



CHAPTER VI. 

At thb North Again. 

Home again — "A dream that was not all a dream " — How I missed 
a college education — A law student again — Opportunities af- 
forded — The Pentagonal Club — My social life — My first political 
speech. 

I reached Cincinnati in a February snow storm, which 
changed to rain in the morning, when I took an up-river 
steamer bound for Pittsburgh. As we started, another 
steamer from a rival line pushed out into the river, and at 
once a race commenced with Pittsburgh as the goal. 
Racing was common in those days on the river, and as a 
consequence accidents were frequent, but, as a rule, pas- 
sengers and crew in a race were willing to risk their lives 
in the hope of victory. So, with us, when the race was 
on, we encouraged it all day and all night and all of the 
next day, until, at last, we ran into our rival and knocked 
off a wheel-house, so that we no longer had a competitor. 
About all I remember of that trip are the incidents of the 
race and a dream I had on the succeeding night on our 
way to Pittsburgh. 

When the excitement of the race was over, I retired 
early and went into a profound sleep. I seemed to be a 
boy again, reclining in the grass upon my father's lawn, 
near an old granite bowlder, around which we children 
were accustomed to play. All at once I noticed a ladder 
standing up at an angle of eighty or ninety degrees, with 
its foot against the bowlder, and its top, like Jacob's lad- 
der, invisible in the heavens above. On the ladder, ten 
or twelve feet from the ground, a woman was standing 



68 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

with a child upon one arm and holding to the ladder with 
the other. Mother and child were marvelously beautiful. 
Unlike the ordinary Madonnas of the great artists, the 
mother and child were of no nationality, but were ideal- 
ized and cosmopolitan. They seemed to be looking at 
me, and the woman seemed about to speak to me, when 
the boat struck the wharf at Pittsburgh, and I awoke. 
The picture made so vivid an impression upon me that I 
have never forgotten it. However, nothing came of it 
until twenty years later, when I stopped over a day in a 
Michigan city to visit a picture gallery, upon an invitation 
of its owner, who had discovered that I had a taste for 
art. The gallery was a brick structure connected to the 
house by a corridor. 

After dinner my friend showed me the pictures in the 
house, and then said, let us go into the gallery. At the 
end of the corridor was a large green baize door, which 
he swung open, and disclosed upon the opposite wall the 
Madonna of my dreams. It was a copy of a picture 
which he had ordered in Rome, and the original was by 
a Spanish artist. Why should a Spanish artist of a cen- 
tury or more ago have the same conception of the Virgin 
that I had in my dream? Certainly, I had never seen 
this picture. Did I, in fact, in vision, see the Mother 
of our L,ord? Shakespeare has said: 

"Dreams are the children of an idle brain, 
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy;" 

and still another poet has said: 

"Dreams are but interludes which fancy makes; 
When monarch reason sleeps, this mimic wakes." 

Doubtless, this is a correct diagnosis of the origin and 
outcome of ordinary dreams, and yet, at rare intervals, 
a dream comes to us which apparently has no connection 
with previous thought or bodily conditions, and makes 



AT THK NORTH AGAIN. 69 

an impression upon us that we remember, and wonder 
whence it came, and what it means. 
Byron has said: 

"I had a dream which was not all a dream;" 

and of such he has written: 

' 'Dreams in their development have breadth, 
And tears, and tortures, and the touch of joy; 
They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts, 
They take a weight from off our waking toils, 
They do divide our being; they become 
A portion of ourselves as of our time, 
And look like heralds of Bternity. ' ' 

As a boy I was a good deal of a day-dreamer, and like 
other boys I built castles in the air without number, but 
as a night-dreamer I never was much of a success. In 
fact, I have only had two or three dreams that made an 
impression sufficiently vivid to be remembered. One was 
my Madonna, and the other occurred thirty years later. 

I was profoundly asleep, when, like St. Paul, I seemed 
to be caught up into the third heaven, but, unlike Paul, 
I have no recollection of what I saw; I only remember 
that in coming back I came out of infinite light — not 
sunlight or fire-light, which casts a shadow — but light 
omnipresent, uncreated, and eternal, and I came with a 
message which I was to deliver to a friend upon the 
earth. I seemed, in my dream, to know that this friend 
had a sister who had been born with such a fearful de- 
formity of body that no one outside of the family had ever 
been permitted to see her, and they kept her secluded in 
in a wooden cage. I came to this man and demanded 
that he should open the cage, and this he did with much 
remonstrance, using a hatchet to pry off the top. As 
this was accomplished, there arose from the box a vision 
of beauty in the form of a young girl in the bloom of 



7<D RECOIXKCTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

youth and the perfection of health. She had a family 
likeness to her brother, but was brighter and handsomer 
every way. He looked at her in astonishment a little 
while, and then turned to me with an exclamation that I 
remember clearly, and I remember my reply. He said: 
"What will the world think of all this?" My reply was: 
"What care we what the world thinks so long as we 
know that God Almighty lives, and hears us when we 
will." / 

With this I awoke, bathed in tears of joy, and the next 
few minutes were the happiest of my life, for God and 
the Infinite were certainties without questionings, and 
like Thomas when he put his hand upon the nail prints 
and spear thrust, I could exclaim: "My I^ord and my 
God!" 

To regain consciousness and realize that it was only a 
dream was like an eclipse of the sun, but yet it remains 
as a memory and remains without solution. It may have 
been an object-lesson of what God can do for a deformed 
body. It may also be a prophecy of what He will do for 
a deformed soul through Jesus Christ our L,ord. 

At Pittsburgh, I took a steamboat on the Mononga- 
hela river to Brownsville, and thence went by stage to 
Cumberland, in the State of Maryland. The pike from 
Brownsville to Cumberland at that time was the great 
thoroughfare of travel from the West to Baltimore and 
Washington. I remember we left Brownsville in a pro- 
cession of nine stage-coaches, in each of which were nine 
passengers inside, and one outside with the driver. At 
Cumberland, we connected with the railroad to Baltimore. 
At Baltimore, I remained for a day or two and took in 
the sights of the city. I ought to have gone to Wash- 
ington, but did not, for reasons I cannot now remember, 
and missed my only opportunity of seeing Webster, Clay, 
Calhoun, Benton, and other great men then in Congress. 



AT THE NORTH AGAIN. 7 1 

From Baltimore I went to Philadelphia, and visited In- 
dependence Hall, the Academy of Fine Arts, and other 
places of interest, and then went on to New York City 
for a few days. 

From New York I went direct to my old home in 
Owasco. I had been absent less than four years, but 
still it did not seem like home. Everything was dwarfed. 
Hills, forests, streams, and distances had all dwindled, 
and the people I had looked up to as magnates in the 
land a few short years before had lost their importance. 
In short, I was disappointed, and the scenes of my boy- 
hood have never seemed natural to me since except in 
dreams. Still it was a beautiful country, and the chain 
of lakes in Central New York, of which the Owasco was 
one, for charming rural scenery has but few equals. 
The country had not changed materially, but I had, and 
my aspirations soon carried me elsewhere. 

The death of my father had left me, from his estate, 
money enough, with careful econonty, to take a college 
course, and I made up my mind to take it. With this 
object in view I started for Amherst College at Amherst 
Massachusetts. I was prepared for the Sophomore 
year, but thought it likely that it would be desirable to 
spend a few months at a preparatory school. I went by 
rail as far as Northampton, six miles from Amherst, 
where I stopped to call upon the principal of an academy, 
to whom I had a letter of introduction. He invited me 
to his house to spend the night, and I went. I was not 
well, and apparently had a bad cold. I was restless 
during the night, and arose in the morning with a high 
fever, and feeling so ill that I felt that the sooner I re- 
turned to the care of friends the better. My cousin, 
Hardenberg Parsell, who was with me in Tennessee, was 
a law student at Balston Spa, New York, and I could 
reach him by night, and so I took the first train via 



72 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Springfield and Troy. I was very ill and did not im- 
prove until afternoon, when, all at once, I felt better. 
In fact I felt quite well, but the passengers looked at me 
curiously. Finally at Troy, in passing through the 
station hotel, I looked at myself in a mirror, and found 
that I was as speckled as a brook trout. In short, I had 
the measles. 

I reached Balston in the evening, where my cousin 
took care of me, and in a week or ten days I came out 
all right so far as the measles were concerned, but almost 
immediately I took the mumps, and was again laid up 
for a week or two. I survived my afflictions, however, 
without serious impairment; but in the meantime in- 
fluences were brought to bear upon me which put an end 
to my college aspirations and plans. 

The law school at Balston Spa had attained a high 
reputation, and my cousin who was attending it, and 
others with whom I became acquainted, counseled me to 
give up a college course and devote the time and money 
it would require to a course of legal studies at the 
Balston law school. Whether this advice was wise or 
unwise, I assented; and so it came about that an attack 
of the measles was the providence that deprived me of 
the opportunities of a college education. 

My arrangements were to remain with my cousin 
through the vacation, then near at hand, and review the 
elementary books I had already read, and commence at 
the law school with the autumn term. It so happened, 
however, that at the close of the term a conflict arose 
between Mr. Fowler, the president of the law school, and 
its managers, which disorganized the institution so that 
I made up my mind to abandon it altogether and go to 
the Harvard College I,aw School, at Cambridge, Mas- 
sachusetts. 

As I had the summer at command, I concluded to 



AT THK NORTH AGAIN. 73 

spend it in visiting friends in Ohio. I went first to Ply- 
mouth, Ohio, where my two sisters were living, and after 
a week or two with them I went to Mansfield to visit my 
kinsman, Jacob Brinkerhoff, who was a leading lawyer 
there. Jacob heard my plans, but advised me to study 
law with him instead of going to a law school. Whether 
wisely or unwisely, I again assented to a change of 
program, and was duly entered as a student in the office 
of Brinkerhoff and Geddes, in the month of June, A. d. 
1850. In the office I found another student, by the 
name of H. C. Smith (who afterwards changed his name 
to H. C. Carhart) , who was about my age, and had read 
about the same amount of law, and we two became com- 
panions and friends, and were helpful to each other. 

The Mansfield bar at that time was very able. Among 
its members were Ex-Governor T. W. Bartley, after- 
wards one of the supreme judges of the state; Jacob 
Brinkerhoff, afterwards upon the supreme bench for 
fifteen years; Samuel J. Kirkwood, afterwards governor, 
and United States senator, in Iowa; John Sherman, who 
since 1855 nas been in congress, as senator, representative 
or cabinet minister; James Stewart, who soon after be- 
came a common pleas judge, and was one of the ablest 
jury lawyers and judges of his time; Geo. W. Geddes, 
afterwards a common pleas judge for three terms, and a 
member of congress three terms; Charles T. Sherman, 
afterwards judge of the United States District Court for 
Northern District of Ohio; Judge Jacob Parker, who as 
a case lawyer was unsurpassed; and various other lawyers 
of more than ordinary ability. 

As students, therefore, we had for example and in- 
spiration as brilliant galaxy of lawyers as could be found 
in the state, or any other city of equal size in the United 
States. Under the circumstances I am not sure but my 
opportunities as a student were as favorable at Mansfield 



74 RECOIJvECTlONS OF A LIFETIME 

as they would have been at Cambridge or elsewhere. I 
knew all of these legal giants very well, and some of 
them intimately. I made a study of their mental char- 
acteristics and professional methods, and from these ob- 
servations I believe I could write a volume, even now, 
after a lapse of nearly fifty years, that would be interest- 
ing and instructive. 

The pioneer lawyers of Ohio, and their immediate suc- 
cessors, who were at the front when I became a student, 
were greater men than those of the generation following 
them or likely to follow them. In the nature of things 
they were broader, more fully developed than is possible 
under existing conditions. 

Lawyers now are divided up into specialties, but a 
specialty necessarily limits development in other direc- 
tions. The modern specialist deals in precedents which 
narrows, whilst the old style lawyer dealt in principles 
which broadened. I asked Secretary Stanton one day at 
the war office how it happened that the legal profession 
of the present generation failed to produce men equal to 
the giants of an earlier day; men for example like Kwing, 
Chase, Thurman, Stanberry, Ranney, and many others I 
could name. Well, he said, "I suppose it was because we 
lawyers in our day had to do everything, and, as we had 
but few books, we had to deal with principles rather than 
precedents, and the result was an all-round development, 
which is hardly possible under existing conditions in the 
profession." Doubtless specialties are a necessity of our 
modern civilization, but they are fatal to that large 
statesmanship so conspicuous in the early days of our 
republic. 

I settled down at once to the work of a law student, 
and followed it steadily to the time of my admission to 
the bar. I read all the books usually assigned to law 
students, and a good many more, so that my time was 



AT THE NORTH AGAIN. 75 

fully occupied, and my preparation for my profession was 
as thorough as I could made it. 

One of the hindrances which I had to overcome, and 
which had been a worriment to me all my life, was an 
excessive timidity in speaking in public. When at 
school I could hardly read a composition in public with- 
out breaking down, and debates and declamations were 
out of the question. Now that I have fully overcome 
this weakness, and for many years have found a large 
audience an inspiration and not a terror, I can hardly 
understand why I should have suffered so terribly in my 
youth from what is commonly known as stage fright. 

As a student I knew perfectly well that I must get rid 
of this infirmity or quit the business. As Judge Brinker- 
hoff said, * 'modesty is delightful in women, but it will 
never do for a lawyer," and so I determined to conquer 
it by main force. I began by arranging with another 
student afflicted in the same manner, to be an audience 
of one to each other, and so we went into the woods, or 
into our rooms, and made speeches with no one but our- 
selves to listen, until we gained confidence enough to 
add another to our audience. 

Finally I arranged a program for a club of five, and 
blocked out a constitution and a name which at last 
crystallized into what was known as ' 'The Pentagonal 
Club." The members were Manuel May, Isaac Gass, 
Henry C. Davis, H. C. Carhart, and myself, three of 
whom are still living, and all, I think, will testify that it 
was the most helpful literary society they have ever be- 
longed to. At any rate that is my verdict. 

We met once a week, and no outsiders whatever were 
admitted. We served in rotation as president, and the 
rules required that the president should prepare and read 
a paper upon some subject of his own selection, and the 



76 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

other four members were to debate a question selected at 
the previous meeting. At the close of the debate, the 
president was required to criticize the debaters and de- 
cide as to the preponderance of the argument. 

For nearly two years we kept at it steadily, and as we 
made careful preparation for our several assignments, we 
were greatly benefited, and I, for one, advanced so far 
that I could face an audience of any size without serious 
inconvenience. From that day to this, I have cherished 
a kindly remembrance for the Pentagonal Club and all 
its members. Judge May still retains our constitution 
and by-laws among his most valued treasures. 

Outside of my regular hours, I had various recrea- 
tions. I boarded at the Mansion House, on the corner 
of Walnut and West Market streets, where the Baptist 
church now stands, which was then a kind of social cen- 
ter for the town. Among the young men there was 
Amos Townsend (my roommate), who was a dry goods 
merchant, who subsequently moved to Cleveland, where 
he became wealthy and a member of congress. Another 
intimate friend of mine was Henry B. Horton, who 
afterwards removed to Chicago and is now a prominent 
business man. Another young man of our set was the 
Rev. Craycraft, the rector of the Episcopal church. 

Among the families boarding there at that time, whose 
friendship for me I remember with pleasure, were the 
Drennans, the Tracys and the Pattersons. I soon be- 
came acquainted with the young people of the town, and 
participated in their social gayeties, and I think we got 
as much enjoyment out of life as young people ever get 
anywhere. 

As every crow thinks its own young the whitest, so 
every generation of young people thinks its own set the 
brightest, and I am not an exception to the rule, and 



AT THK NORTH AGAIN. 77 

those of us who got our wives out of that set are sure 
that she was a paragon of excellence. 

During those student days, I dabbled in literature a 
little and wrote for the newspapers somewhat. I also 
dabbled in politics somewhat, and made a Democratic 
speech (my first attempt) at Koogle's Schoolhouse, in 
Mifflin township, in company with Manuel May. 

My speech was twenty minutes long and Manuel's was 
two hours; but I am afraid we were hardly as eloquent 
as Webster or Clay; but we did our best, and that was 
all the audience could hold us accountable for. I also 
joined the Richland Lodge of Oddfellows, which then 
met in the third story of the North American Hotel, and 
for a number of years I was an active member and 
passed all the chairs and was benefited in many ways by 
its associations. To young men and to many older men, 
the secret orders, so far as I have known them, are all 
helpful. Their associations are clean and their work is 
useful. In fact, in benevolent work, the church itself 
has much to learn from Oddfellowship, and, as a Chris- 
tian, I have often commended some of its methods for 
imitation by the churches. The secret societies, so far 
as I have known them, all inculcate a high standard of 
morality, based upon the Bible, and Bible illustrations 
dominate in the rites and ceremonies of the various de- 
grees. 

A man who lives up to the teachings of Oddfellowship 
or Masonry cannot be otherwise than a good citizen, and 
outside of our churches, I know of no organization more 
wholesome in their influences than these societies. 
Whilst they are not Christian in creed, they certainly 
are the friends of Christianity, and churches, in treating 
them as enemies, make a great mistake. Personally, I 
have long since abandoned all active participation in the 



78 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

regular work of all secret societies, although I preserve 
my connections with some of them, and pay my dues 
and contribute cheerfully to their benevolences; but as a 
Christian, I find a higher plane of activity, and I have 
no time to spare for that which is lower. 



CAREER AS A LAWYER. 79 



CHAPTER VII. 

Career as a Lawyer. 

My examination — My law partner — My marriage — My removal to 
Ashland — My first case at the bar — Church membership — Dutch 
Calvinism — Christ and the resurrections-More recent doctrine — 
Return to Mansfield — My new law partner — The Repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise — A non-partizan political meeting — "The 
Know-nothings" — The People's Party — Thomas H. Ford. 

I was admitted to the bar, December 24, 1851, at 
Columbus, Ohio. Fortunately, or unfortunately, my ex- 
amination was exceptionally severe. A committee of 
three lawyers had been appointed by the Supreme Court 
to examine all applicants, and up to the day of my 
arrival all examinations had been made by two mem- 
bers. I went to one of these examiners and he sent me 
to the other, and he sent me to the third, Noah H. 
Swayne, telling me to say to him that he must do his 
share of the committee work. 

Mr. Swayne was then one of the leading lawyers of 
the state, and was afterwards made a member of the 
Supreme Court of the United States. I went to his 
office and delivered my message and he went at me with 
an examination so exhaustive and protracted that I 
doubt if any applicant ever received a more thorough 
sifting. There were a number of persons in his office, 
and I have always thought that the time he spent on me 
was more to show off his own learning than to find out 
what I knew. Fortunately I was well up in all of the 
elementary books, and held my own very well; but when 



8o RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

he went outside into English history, and special cases, I 
bungled somewhat. 

He finally stated a complicated case under the statute 
of frauds and asked me what I would say to a client 
under such a state of facts. 

After sweating over it a few minutes, a happy thought 
occurred to me, and I said, (< I would tell my client I 
would examine the books and give him an opinion 
later on. " 

"That is exactly what you ought to say," he replied, 
' 'but, still, I would like to have your impression as to 
the points of law applicable to such a case. ' ' 

I told him; and he said he thought so too when the 
case was presented to him by a client, but found, by 
carrying it to the Supreme Court, that he was mistaken. 
The result of my examination was that I got my sheep- 
skin, and went on my way rejoicing. 

I had already arranged for a partnership with Bolivar 
Kellogg, the prosecuting attorney of Ashland county, 
and for some weeks had been in his office at Ashland, 
and on my return our partnership commenced. This, 
practically, was the beginning of my career. All before 
it was simply preparatory. Apparently I was making a 
fairly good beginning. Mr. Kellogg, for a young man, 
stood very high at the bar. He was a man of fine 
presence and popular manners, and his ability as a lawyer 
and speaker was recognized by all. 

We started with a good business, and our future 
seemed bright, but still it was only a beginning, and to 
think of getting married under the circumstances would 
be considered by prudent people as decidedly premature. 
However that was exactly what I did, and I have never 
had occasion to doubt its wisdom. 

I was married to Mary Lake Bentley, February 3, 
1852, at the Congregational Church, Mansfield, Ohio, 



CAREER AS A LAWYER. 8 1 

by the Rev. James B. Walker, and, after a reception at 
the home of the bride, we left for Ashland with the con- 
gratulations and good wishes of all our friends, and for 
the time being took up our abode at the Sampsel Hotel. 
I was twenty-three years old and my wife was eighteen, 
and our combined experiences, I presume, had not de- 
veloped profound wisdom for getting along in the world; 
but still we did get along, and through all these years 
that followed our home has been happy and the wolf of 
want has never been at our door. 

The blessings I have received in life have been in- 
numerable, and I doubt if any one has ever lived to whom 
life has been more delightful, but the crowning blessing 
of all has been my home. In the world outside I have 
had my share of storms and buffeting, but inside, in the 
harbor of home, I have never found aught but sunshine 
and rest. It is an old saying, that ' ' Home is where the 
heart is," which is all very true, but still a home at its 
best needs also comfortable surroundings and some de- 
gree of permanency, so that local attachments can be 
formed. 

I have always been thankful that I was born in the 
country, and that I grew up to manhood in close com- 
panionship with nature. The memories of fields, forests, 
and lakes and streams remain with a tenacity that noth- 
ing can efface, and even now when I dream, the scenes 
that come back to me are those of my childhood and 
youth rather than those of a later period. Doubtless 
there are pleasant homes in the tenant houses of cities, 
but in the memories of children reared in such homes, 
there must be a deficiency that all the experiences of 
later years can never supply. Every family, if possible, 
should have a home of its own, in which to express its 
own individuality and growth, and in which children 
6 



82 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

can hang up pictures in memory, which shall be an in- 
spiration for good in all the years to come. 

Coming, as I did, through seven generations of coun- 
try homes, it was natural that when I married I should 
desire a home of my own, and fortunately this desire was 
soon accomplished. My wife had some means from her 
father's estate, which, supplemented with some additions 
from her mother, enabled us to obtain a modest cottage 
home in Ashland, which we proceeded to occupy and en- 
joy, and from that day to this, with a brief interval after 
returning to Mansfield, we have lived in our own home, 
and for over thirty years in the house we now occupy 
(1899). Kvery tree and shrub and plant on our four 
acres of ground is of our own planting, and every nook 
and corner of every building is of our own designing, 
and the memories which cluster around them, to us, and 
our children are a joy forever. 

Our Ashland life did not last long. The illness of my 
wife's mother and the absence of her stepfather rendered 
it imperative that we should return to Mansfield and care 
for the family, and so in the autumn of 1852, we abandoned 
Ashland as a residence, and we soon after sold our cot- 
tage home. 

I had been in Ashland only about a year, but I had so 
rooted myself that it seemed a calamity to leave. The 
village was pleasant, my business outlook was promising, 
and our social life was agreeable, and in all respects my 
opportunities were exceptionally favorable, so that a 
change under the circumstances was very discouraging. 
But duty seemed to require it and we went. My year 
of life in Ashland, whilst it made no large impression 
upon me, it gave me some valuable experiences and some 
pleasant memories. 

In the practical work of my profession, I made some 
progress, especially in the preparation and trial of cases. 



CAREER AS A LAWYER. 83 

My first case was before a justice of the peace at Hays- 
ville, and was brought to recover damage for a warranty 
of soundness in a horse trade and was hotly contested. 
The horse turned out to be a ' ' cribbiter, " or ' ' stump- 
sucker, ' ' which we claimed to be legal unsoundness, and 
which the other side denied. A decision of L,ordjTenter- 
den, in England, which I luckily found quoted in a horse- 
book, carried the case for my client, and we got a judg- 
ment for twenty-five dollars, from which I got a ten 
dollar fee and as much glory as I could safely carry. 

During the year I was at Ashland, I was a candidate 
for nomination by the Democratic party for the office of 
prosecuting attorney. It was a scheme of Kellogg not 
to nominate me, but to beat another fellow, and give me 
a general acquaintance in the county. Of course I was 
not nominated, but I did make a large acquaintance and 
gained the friendship of some people who have since been 
of service to me in many ways. 

During the year my wife and I united with the Pres- 
byterian Church under the pastorate of Dr. Robinson — 
my wife by letter and I by confession. Practically I had 
been a Christian in faith all my life, and in the Congre- 
gational Church at Mansfield, had been a Sabbath-school 
teacher, but actual profession and membership began in 
Ashland. In my younger days, in Protestant churches, 
the idea prevailed almost universally that conversion to 
Christianity could only come to persons of mature years, 
and then only through great mental conflicts, and church 
membership to younger people was looked upon with 
suspicion. 

In the Dutch Reformed Church in which I was born 
and raised, and in the Presbyterian and other Calvinistic 
churches, the doctrine of election dominated, and the 
fact of election could only be known through some 
cyclonic mental disturbance, and the result was that 



84 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

many people thoroughly Christian in spirit and faith, 
were kept out of church membership all their lives be- 
cause they had never experienced the mental tribulations 
which seemed to be required. 

In the Methodist Church, where the doctrine of elec- 
tion did not prevail, the requirements for physical and 
mental demonstrations were even more pronounced than 
with the Calvinists, and revival meetings were almost as 
noisy and demonstrative as ghost dances, among the 
Indians in the Far West. ' 

Now that time has brought about a better understand- 
ing of gospel requirements, it is quite generally recog- 
nized that early church membership is to be desired 
rather than deprecated, and I have no doubt the time is 
not far off when the children of Christian parents will be 
il ipso facto" church members, as fully as they are Amer- 
ican citizens, by birth. 

Full communion in the church, like the right of vot- 
ing in the state, may be postponed until adult years, but 
citizenship is a birth-right in both kingdoms — in the one 
by constitutional guarantee, and in the other by promise 
to believers and their children. As to myself, if I am 
sure of anything, I am sure I am a Christian, but I can- 
not determine any day, or month, or year when I became 
such. As Paul said to the captain of the Temple Guard, 
"I was free-born," like Timothy, through his mother 
Eunice, and his grandmother L,ois. 

Doubtless I have had "fears without and fightings 
within," like other Christians, but my contentions have 
been against creeds and not against Christianity. I have 
long since outgrown the tyranny of creeds, but if a creed 
must be had, that known as the ' 'Apostle's Creed ' ' is 
ample for all practical purposes, and those who accept it 
in truth and in fact I recognize as my brethren. A 
shorter and better creed, and the only one recognized by 



CARKKR AS A LAWYKR. 85 

the Master is the Confession of Peter: "Thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the living God," for upon that Christ 
declared, "I will build my church. Whosoever shall con- 
fess me before men, him shall the Son of Man also con- 
fess before the angels of God." This was also the creed 
of the Apostle Paul, for he says: "If thou shalt confess 
with thy mouth the L,ord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine 
heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt 
be saved." This is the only creed, not excepting even 
the Apostle's Creed, to which I am able to give absolute 
assent, without mental reservation, or special interpreta- 
tions, and upon it I base my hopes of ' 'The life that now 
is, and of that which is to come." In this was manifested 
the love of God toward us, because that God sent His 
only begotten Son into the world, that we might live 
through Him. 

That God did send his Son into the world in the person 
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of Mary, that He 
was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and that on the third 
day He rose from the dead, is the declaration of Christian- 
ity, and upon the truth of this statement its whole super- 
structure is built. The apostles and their disciples, every- 
where, preached Christ and the resurrection as an his- 
torical fact, and in this assertion they went to martyrdom. 
The apostles, and many others (St. Paul says five hun- 
dred at one time) were eye-witnesses of the risen Christ. 
Is it conceivable that they would go to death with a lie 
in their mouths? 

To me there is no fact in history more certainly proved 
than the resurrection of our Iyord. The fact that the 
Declaration of Independence was signed and promulgated 
on the 4th day of July, 1776, is not more certain, and it 
seems strange to me that Christian scholarship has failed 
to focus upon this central fact and prove it beyond a rea- 
sonable doubt, as they surely can. 



86 RECOU,KCTlONS OF A UFETIME. 

If Jesus Christ rose from the dead what care we as to 
the mistakes of Moses, about which Ingersoll driveled? 
What care we whether there were two, or half a dozen 
Isaiahs? What care we whether the story of Jonah was 
truth or fiction? If Jesus Christ rose from the dead, then 
He was more than a man, and His teachings are divine, 
and the supernatural in the gospels, without which Chris- 
tianity is ' 'an irridescent dream, " is no longer a stumbling- 
block. 

Fifty years ago, when I was a law-student, reading 
Greenleaf's " Rules of Evidence," which was then our 
highest authority, I also came upon Greenleaf's * 'Tes- 
timony of the Evangelists," in which he applied those 
rules, and I have never doubted since the truthfulness of 
those witnesses. In addition to these, however, we have 
the testimony of the Apostle Paul, which Greenleaf did 
not consider, and the enormous confirmations of history 
through the centuries that followed. 

In view of these facts, it is amazing to me that Chris- 
tian apologists waste their energies upon side issues, 
when the corner-stone of the whole Christian fabric is 
the historic fact of the resurrection. St. Paul made no 
such blunder, for in his first letter to the Corinthians 
(chapter xv, verse 14) he says: "If Christ be not risen, 
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. ' ' 
We also, therefore, should center upon the fact of the 
risen Christ, and marshal the testimony to prove it. 

I know of no greater boon to mankind than a convinc- 
ing volume upon the resurrection of Jesus, by some 
great jurist of national reputation, like Justice Brewer of 
the United States Supreme Court, who, as I have reason 
to know, believes as I do. There was a book on this sub- 
ject published years ago by Rev. James H. Brookes, en- 
titled, "Did Jesus Rise?" which is the most satisfactory 



CAREER AS A LAWYER. 87 

of any I have seen, but it is the plea of an advocate, 
rather than the calm, unbiased verdict of a judge. 

We returned to Mansfield in the autumn of 1852, and 
for a month or two boarded at the Wiler House, and 
then removed to the home of my wife's mother, whose 
failing health required that we should assume the entire 
charge of the household, and remained there until after 
her death, in 1854. 

Upon my return to Mansfield, I opened a law office, 
and soon after formed a partnership with Walter H. Shupe, 
but this continued only a few months, when I formed an- 
other partnership with Downing H. Young, who had 
been in active practice for several years, and had built 
up quite a large business. I had special charge of the 
office work, and the preparation of cases for trial. Our 
business increased rapidly, and within a year we had a 
docket equal, at least in volume, to any other firm in the 
city. 

I was now once more fairly started in a professional 
career for which, in the main, the previous ten years had 
been devoted to preparatory study. I was fully deter- 
mined from my boyhood to be a lawyer, and a good one, 
if it was in me, and to make the profession my life work, 
but it seemed to be foreordained otherwise. Whatever I 
may think of the Calvinistic doctrine, I do believe there 
is "a Divinity that shapes our ends," which is quite a. 
different proposition, and is entirely consistent with free- 
dom of the will. 

In short, there is a changeless purpose in the on-goings 
of the universe. We have the high privilege of partici- 
pating in the consummation of that purpose, and the po- 
sitions we occupy are assignments for duty. If we do 
our part, it is well with us; but, if we fail, some one else 
will be found who will not fail, and the Divine purpose 
is not hindered in the slightest. 



88 RKCOIXKCTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

The poet has said: 

"Man's life is all a mist, and in the dark 
Our fortunes meet us. 
If fate be not, then what can we foresee ? 
And how can we avoid it if it be ? 
If by free will in our own paths we move, 
How are we bounded by decrees above ? 
Whether we drive, or whether we are driven, 
If ill, 'tis ours; if good, the act of heaven." 

However this may be, my own experience has been 
that my career has been ordered from without, and not 
from within, and whatever good I have accomplished has 
been as an instrument and not as a designer. 

Again and again I have carefully considered and 
adopted a line of action designed to be permanent, and 
fairly within my capacity and limitations, and yet again 
and again an obstacle arose which absolutely blocked the 
way, and deflected me into a different sphere of action, 
and so it came about that my second start in the legal 
profession came to a conclusion. This time politics ap- 
parently did the business for me. 

The congress of 1853 and 1854 was in session, and as 
usual the slave power was arrogant and aggressive, but 
the public generally had no idea that the Compromise of 
1850, known as "The Missouri Compromise," would be 
seriously attacked. It had been accepted by all sections, 
and latitude thirty- six thirty, as the northern limit of any 
possible extension of slavery, to all appearances, was now 
fully settled for all time. Under the circumstances, the 
introduction into the Senate of the United States by 
Stephen A. Douglas, as chairman of the Committee on 
Territories, of a bill to repeal the Missouri Compromise, 
was like a flash of lightning from a clear sky. 

Nothing else, in my time, of a political nature, had 
created such a sensation. The extent of the upheaval can 



CAREER AS A UWYKR. 89 

be realized, somewhat, from the fact that within a year 
the old political parties were torn into fragments. In 
the Democratic Party the proposed repeal of the Mis- 
souri compact was resisted by petitions to members of 
congress, and by resolutions and speeches at public 
meetings. 

From Mansfield, petitions and letters without number 
were sent to our member of congress, William D. I^ind- 
sey, by his Democratic constituents, and these were fol- 
lowed by a public meeting, called without distinction of 
party, but of which a majority were Democrats. 

As I look over the call of this meeting, which I have 
in a scrap-book, I find it was signed by one hundred and 
thirty-four citizens of Mansfield and Richland county, of 
whom about twenty are now (1899) living, and of the entire 
list I was the youngest. The call was as follows: "The un- 
dersigned, without distinction of party, invite a meeting of 
the citizens of Mansfield and vicinity, Friday, February 17, 
1854, to consider the Nebraska Bill, now pending in con- 
gress." The names appended were pretty equally di- 
vided between the old political parties, but when the 
meeting assembled and the country people came in, the 
Democrats were in the ascendant. At any rate, those 
who came to the front were mainly Democrats. I*evi 
Stevenson, an old Democratic wheelhorse from Weller 
township, was president, and I was secretary. 

Among the speakers, I remember, were Samuel J. 
Kirkwood, Jacob Brinkerhoff and Barnabas Burns, all 
Democrats, and all men of national reputation later on. 
The only record of the proceedings now in my possession 
seems to be the resolutions adopted unanimously by the 
meeting, and my recollection is that they were reported 
by Samuel J. Kirkwood, as chairman of the committee 
on resolutions. The meeting was held in the court- 
house, and I remember the president sat in the judge's 



90 R3COU.KCTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

chair, with General Robert Bentley (my wife's grand- 
father), one of the old Democratic associate judges, at 
his side as one of the vice-presidents. 

The report of the committee on resolutions presented 
compactly and clearly the history of the Missouri Com- 
promise, and closed with the following resolutions: 

" Resolved, That in view of the foregoing considera- 
tions, we are opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise deliberately entered into for the settlement of an 
exciting and dangerous sectional controversy, because 
such repeal would tend to destroy confidence in the other 
compromises touching the subject of slavery, and to pro- 
duce uneasiness and distrust in the public mind; because 
We conceive it to be in violation of the wholesome and 
sound doctrine announced by the convention of 1852, on 
the agitation of the slavery question, and because we be- 
lieve its effect would be to renew that agitation and again 
to produce between different sections of our country 
strife, confusion, bitterness and discord. 

"Resolved, That the foregoing preamble and resolu- 
tions be published in our county papers, and that a copy 
thereof be forwarded to our senators and representatives 
in congress, and to the Honorable Thomas H. Benton, of 
Missouri, and to the President of the United States. ' ' 

As in Mansfield, so all over the North, the discussion 
of the Kansas- Nebraska Bill absorbed public attention to 
the exclusion of all other political issues, but without 
avail in defeating its adoption. The bill was made a 
party measure by the administration of President Pierce, 
and passed the Senate, March 3, 1854, and the House, 
May 14th, and was approved by the President, May 30th. 
The passage of this bill was farreaching in its results, 
and during the twenty years that followed, the slavery 
question, like ' 'Aaron's rod," swallowed all others; and 



CAR3KR AS A UWYKR. 9 1 

even after slavery was abolished, its aftermath remained, 
for many years a potent influence for evil. 

The passage of the Kansas- Nebraska Bill, instead of 
decreasing, rather increased the agitation of the public 
mind. The old parties disintegrated. At the North, 
the Whig Party dissolved, and such of its members as 
were opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise 
united with the Antislavery Democrats, first as the 
People's Party and then as the Republican Party. 

In the elections for 1854, tne °ld party names were re- 
tained, but the vote for congressmen showed that a pro- 
slavery candidate in either party lost votes, and that the 
people were ready for a new party organization. One of 
the potent factors of the elections in 1854 was the 
"Know-nothing vote," which was largely antislavery. 
This new organization was ostensibly operated against 
foreign immigrants, but its sudden growth was almost 
entirely due to a revolt of members of the old parties on 
the slavery question. In our congressional district, 
William D. L,indsey was renominated for congress, and 
John Sherman by the Whigs. 

Mr. Sherman, in his memoirs, refers to his opponent 
as an ignorant man, who spelled seed corn "ceed korn." 
Mr. Sherman was certainly misinformed, for I received 
several letters from Mr. L,indsey as well written and as 
correctly spelled as Mr. Sherman himself could write. 
Mr. Iyindsey was an excellent man and a good represent- 
ative, and was defeated upon a side issue, which would 
have defeated almost any man who could have been nom- 
inated at the time. No one expected that Iyindsey could 
have been defeated, but the Know-nothings threw their 
strength for Sherman and he was elected. I voted for 
him myself, although I supported the remainder of the 
Democratic ticket. 

The Know-nothing movement was simply a stepping- 



92 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

stone to what followed. It enabled disaffected Whigs or 
Democrats to act together in secret, and prepared them 
for open co-operation in the People's Party, next year, 
and in the Republican Party in 1856. 

During the campaign I retained connections with the 
Democratic Party so far as to support its local nomina- 
tions, and filled my assignments for speeches in various 
townships. 

During the congress of 1854 an( i I ^55, the administra- 
tion made the Kansas-Nebraska iniquity its main test of 
party fealty, so that antislavery Democrats were left out 
in the cold and had to seek shelter somewhere, and 
therefore they made an alliance with the antislavery 
Whigs, and acted together as "The People's Party." 

This party met in convention at Columbus in June, 
1855, and put in nomination a state ticket, with Salmon 
P. Chase for governor, Thomas H. Ford for lieutenant- 
governor, and Jacob Brinkerhoff for supreme judge. 

I was a delegate to this convention and an active par- 
ticipant in its proceedings, and made the personal ac- 
quaintance of all the leading spirits of that movement. 

My kinsman, Jacob Brinkerhoff, was warmly supported 
for governor by a large number of delegates, and I was 
his personal representative in the management of his 
interests. I thought his chances were good for the nom- 
ination, and I think the managers for Mr. Chase thought 
so, for they made me a proposition that if Brinkerhoff 
would withdraw for governor and accept a nomination 
for supreme judge, he could have their unanimous sup- 
port. This proposition I conveyed to Jacob, and he di- 
rected me to accept it, as he was not rich enough to be 
governor, and under the circumstances would prefer the 
judgeship, which was in the line of his profession. 

Upon this arrangement Chase was nominated for gov- 
ernor and Brinkerhoff for supreme judge. 



CAREER AS A LAWYER. 93 

Thomas H. Ford was nominated for lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, making two candidates from Mansfield and the 
county of Richland, which was contrary to all precedent; 
but a recent speech in a national convention of "Know- 
nothings," or North Americans, as they called them- 
selves, had given him a phenomenal popularity, and he 
was nominated with a hurrah. 

Ford was a man with a splendid physique, over six 
feet high, and on a great occasion was a great orator; 
but he was a very indolent man, and failed to develop his 
great natural powers. 

I knew him intimately for many years and had a warm 
affection for him, as everybody else had who knew him; 
but his happy-go-lucky disposition prevented any large 
attainments. 

He had been a captain in the Mexican war, and when the 
rebellion broke out he was made the colonel of the 
Thirty-second O. V. I., and was cashiered (unjustly, I 
think) for conduct at the Harper's Ferry fiasco. He was 
afterwards restored and honorably discharged. He then 
settled in Washington City as a claim lawyer, and died a 
few years after the war. 



94 kJ<COl,l,KcTi<)NS OP A UKKTIMK. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Cakkkr as an Editor. 

My valedictory and salutatory David R. Poeke ( Petroleum V. 

Naaby) a parting word Appreciation of reporters E&ditoria] 

nieidenl:. pdiloi lal eon vent ions. 

A short time alter llie stale coiiveiil ion of the People's 
Party, I WES again switched olT the trark of my profes- 
sion by one of those unaccountable providences which I 
suppose conies to all occasionally. I was passing the 

house of Matthias Day, Jr., then the editor and proprie- 
tor of the "Mansfield Weekly Herald." It was early in 
the evening, and Mr. Day was sitting in his doorway. I 
spoke to him and went on, but had only gone a short 
distance when he called me hack and told me he was 
going away for a few weeks for his health, and he would 
like very much if I would look after the editorial depart- 
ment of his paper somewhat. I tolel him I was very 

busy and would have no time- to prepare editorials. 

"Well," he- said, "you can, at least, see' what goes in 
and prevent any indiscreet articles from appearing, and 
you can use' the' scissors in getting e-xtracts from other 

papers." 

The upshot of the conference was that I agreed to do 
wlini i could End time to do, and he k« ivc> ,m> Lnc> key to 

the- post office box to get the' exchange's. The result was 
I made the paper hot lor our opponents, and enjoyed the 
exercise. Mr. Day's health did not improve-, and he 
finally thought it best to sell out his paper and take a 

protracted rest. 



CAREER AS AN EDITOR. 95 

We finally got a proposition to purchase from James 
G. Robinson, and David R. L,ocke, who had recently- 
sold out their paper at Plymouth, Ohio, provided some 
one at Mansfield, well known to the public, would take 
a third interest. My friends urged me to take such an 
interest, and as L,ocke and Robinson did not ask me to do 
more than give them the use of my name, and write as 
I found leisure, I finally agreed to go in, and the firm, 
"Brinkerhoff & Co." appeared as the proprietors of the 
" Herald," and our ship was launched the twelfth day of 
September, 1855. 

Nothing was further from my intentions than to aban- 
don my profession. I was deeply interested in the im- 
pending conflict between slavery and freedom, and my 
life in the South had given me information which enabled 
me to apprehend the magnitude of coming events which 
northern people generally could not comprehend. Still 
I did not expect to give any more time to the enlighten- 
ment of the public than I could consistently with the 
discharge of my regular business requirements, as a 
lawyer. 

I had already edited the paper for a month, and by 
arrangement with my law partner I proposed to put in a 
part of my time upon editorial work until after the 
October election, when the immediate exigency would be 
over. The spirit which actuated me is fairly indicated 
in my valedictory, as editor pro tern, and my salutatory 
for Brinkerhoff & Co. , from which I make a few extracts. 

"For a month past, Mr. Day, the former able and 
popular editor of the "Herald," has been absent from 
the state, for the purpose of recruiting his health, which 
has become impaired by his over devotion to the arduous 
duties of his profession." . . . 

"During the absence of Mr. Day, the subscriber has 
devoted to the editorial columns of the "Herald," such 



96 RKCOLI^CTIONS OF A UFKTIME. 

time as he could spare from the pressure of legal 
business. 

''As to the result of his labors it is not for him to speak, 
and suffice it to say, with Childe Harold, 

1 ' 'What is writ is writ, would it were worthier. ' 

"He trusts, however, that with the experience already 
acquired, and the co-operation of those with whom he is 
associated, he will in the future be enabled to merit more 
entirely the confidence and patronage of the public." 

"Of the future political character of the 'Herald' so 
far as the subscriber is concerned, the public can judge 
by reference to its columns during the past month. . . . 
The subscriber has always been a Democrat in the pri- 
mary significance of the word, and he still believes that 
as a Republican he is reverently treading in the footsteps 
of Jefferson. He feels that the time has come when the 
great contest between freedom and slavery must be ter- 
minated. There is no way of avoiding this contest. It 
is as certain as death. In the position of affairs, it seems 
to us there is but one position that any true American, 
one who fears God and loves his fellow- men, can take, 
and that is on the side of freedom, and to dedicate to the 
cause, 'his life (if needs be), his fortune, and his sacred 
honor.'" 

In my salutatory, I said: "Politically, the 'Herald' will 
be Republican out and out; we shall oppose to the full 
extent of our ability the further extension of the area of 
human bondage. We shall oppose the admission of any 
more slave states — we shall advocate a judicious and 
economical administration of public affairs — we shall op- 
pose the elevation to office of improper and unqualified 
men — we shall advocate zealously and freely all measures 
which we think will result in public good — we shall, in 
all things, advocate the right and oppose and denounce 



CAREER AS AN EDITOR. 97 

the wrong, no matter what the consequences may be to 
ourselves. In contests with opponents, we shall carefully 
avoid personalities, slang, and everything that tends to 
irritate uselessly. We shall use argument to defend our 
positions, and when that fails us we shall retire as grace- 
fully as circumstances will permit, and acknowledge that 
others may be right as well as ourselves. . . . " 

Of the firm of Brinkerhoff & Co. , I was the political 
representative and writer. James G. Robinson was a 
good, practical printer, and a good business man, and to 
him was assigned the charge of the job and printing de- 
partments, and he did no editorial work of any kind. 
David R. Locke was a practical printer, but he was also 
a spicy writer, and looked after local items. He was 
also, as I soon discovered, a humorous writer of great 
promise. In fact, I think I was the first person to ap- 
preciate and encourage his humorous vein. When upon 
the ''Herald," he wrote a series of articles which he 
named the "Sniggs' Articles," which for rollicking 
humor, I do not believe were afterwards equaled by his 
famous "Nasby Letters." The "Sniggs' Articles" pro- 
fessed to give an account of the experiences and ad- 
ventures of a young man of that name during his court- 
ship and marriage. I do not remember anything in 
literature more laugh-provoking than Sniggs' account of 
the cow his mother-in-law gave him. The whole series 
ought to have been republished long ago, but they 
mysteriously disappeared. 

After Locke became famous, I went to my bound vol- 
umes of the "Herald" and found all of the "Sniggs' 
Articles' ' had been cut out and carried off. From people 
who knew Locke's history, I heard that the "Sniggs' 
Articles were largely founded on fact, and that his wife's 
relatives were a good deal ruffled by the revelations made. 
7 



98 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

However this may be, the articles disappeared from my 
files, and I have no doubt Locke got possession of them. 
At any rate they have never seen daylight. I told 
Locke some years after the war that he ought to repub- 
lish the "Sniggs' Articles," for they were the best he 
had ever written, and he told me he had thought of do- 
ing so, and possibly he might, but he never did. 

Locke and Robinson came to Plymouth, Ohio, from 
Pittsburgh, where they had been journeymen printers, 
and started the ''Plymouth Advertiser," which still con- 
tinues. At Plymouth, Robinson married a Miss Ben- 
schoter, and Locke, a Miss Bodine. Robinson was steady 
as a clock, and had some means, but Locke was a little 
wild and rather fast, and saved nothing, and the result 
was, when payments on our purchase came due, Locke 
had no money, and concluded to go out. Locke subse- 
quently became famous as a political writer, over the 
nom de plume of Petroleum V. Nasby, and the "Nasby 
letters" during the war gave him fame and fortune. 
President Lincoln is reported to have said that, next to 
a dispatch announcing a federal victory, he read a Nasby 
letter with the most pleasure. 

After the withdrawal of Mr. Locke, the "Herald" 
files show, Robinson and I became the sole owners, Jan- 
uary 30, 1856. This new deal, of course, put extra work 
upon me, but, during the summer, Mr. Day's health had 
so far improved that he desired to take an interest with 
us, and so we sold him a third interest. This arrange- 
ment I hoped would relieve me, and it did temporarily, 
but Mr Robinson and Mr. Day did not get along well to- 
gether, and the friction became so great that Mr. Day 
proposed that he and I should take Mr. Robinson's in- 
terest, and this we fin illy did, October, 1856. 

I very soon found that this arrangement would not 
work, as his views of business management were not in 



CAREER AS AN KDITOR. 99 

harmony with my own, and so I proposed to sell out my 
interest, but he did not feel able to make the purchase, 
and so I felt compelled, in order to save what I had put 
in, to shoulder the whole business, which I did. 

Having staked all I had in the world upon a newspaper 
interest, I felt it indispensable to give it n^ whole time, 
at least until I could unload; and, therefore, on the 4th 
of November, 1857, I became sole proprietor, and ran it 
alone until November 17, 1858, when my brother-in-law, 
Robert H. Bentley, took an interest, and took charge of 
the books and accounts, and we ran it successfully until 
May 18, 1859, when we sold out the whole establishment, 
without loss, to George T. Myers & Brother, of Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania. 

Three years and a half with the ' 'Herald" had prac- 
tically taken me out of the legal profession, although I 
kept my sign out, and preserved a nominal position at 
the bar, but, in reality, to start again, was to start new. 
Still, I was yet young (not quite thirty-one), and my 
career as an editor had given me a large acquaintance, 
and a mental training, which I have always considered 
of great value. In fact, as a formative influence upon 
my subsequent life, I know of nothing more potent for 
good. 

As to my ability and experience as an editor, the files of 
the * 'Herald" (which I have given to the Memorial li- 
brary) are the best witnesses. As I look over those 
files I am not ashamed of my record, and really, for so 
young a man, I think I did very well indeed. At any 
rate, I did my best, and tried to do my duty, and my 
valedictory, in the "Herald," of May 18, 1859, which I 
quote entire, was a candid and truthful retrospect of my 
editorial career up to that time. It was as follows: 

"A Parting Word. — A valedictory is usually a very 
dull document except to the person perpetrating it, and 
LofC. 



IOO RECOIXKCTIONS OF A UFF/TIMK. 

I propose, therefore, as far as established custom and 
good manners will warrant, to save the readers of the 
'Herald' from such an infliction. It is now over three 
years and a half since I assumed the editorial position 
which I am about to resign. During that time, through 
our weekly intercourse, the patrons of the 'Herald' have, 
for the most part, become my personal friends. That 
acquaintance and intercouse, too, I am happy to say, has 
always been of the most agreeable character, and I 
should, therefore, be less than human not to entertain 
feelings of regret at the sundering of relations and asso- 
ciations which have ever been pleasant, and to which I 
have become accustomed. The reasons prompting me to 
abandon my position as an editor are various, and need 
not be stated in full here; suffice it to say that the lead- 
ing one is a desire to return to the profession for which 
I was educated, and to the acquisition of which I have 
devoted the best years of my life. I am a lawyer through 
choice and early training, and have been an editor only 
by accident and the force of circumstances. 

"I am aware that most persons entertain the idea that 
no preliminary training is needed for the position of an 
editor, and that any one in fact of ordinary literary at- 
tainments can at once conduct a newspaper. No mis- 
take can be greater. To be a successful editor requires 
as much ability and as long training as any other pro- 
fession. In fact my observation warrants me in assert- 
ing that to attain eminence as an editor, a rarer combina- 
tion of talent is required than in any other profession. 
An editor must not only be able to write properly and 
entertainingly, but he must also know when to write. 
An article may possess all the brilliancy of Macaulay 
combined with all the vigor and originality of Ruskin or 
Carlyle, and may withal be as truthful as the records 
of Holy Writ, and yet if it is ill-timed and improperly 



CAREER AS AN EDITOR. IOI 

adjusted to the exigencies of surrounding circumstances, 
it had better be burned by far than published. 

"Napoleon was accustomed to say that in military 
affairs 'a blunder was worse than a crime.' The latter 
involved only the individual, but the former might ruin 
an army. So with the editor, a blunder, although not 
as bad as a crime, is yet a very serious matter, and can- 
not often be repeated with any prospect of professional 
success. In short, an editor should possess not only in- 
dependence, integrity and literary ability, but a tact also, 
which can only be acquired by long experience and a 
thorough knowledge of human nature. 

"In regard to my success as an editor, it is not for me 
to determine. I can only say that I have endeavored to 
do my duty by promulgating such opinions and advo- 
cating such measures as I believed to be right, and as 
the exigencies of the times seemed to require. I have 
truckled to no man, party, sect or power; I have com- 
promised no opinion, and I have kept back no truth. The 
only cause I have for regret is, the want of ability to 
fulfill my own ideal of an editor, and thereby be enabled 
to advocate more effectually the principles I have pro- 
fessed. 

' 'With my brethren of the press, I am happy to say, I 
have always been upon the most friendly terms; our 
political controversies, it is true, at times, have been 
sharp and somewhat protracted, but no enmities have 
been engendered, and to-day I take leave of each and 
all — political opponents and political friends — with no 
animosities to cherish and no bitterness to remember. 

"In conclusion, I would tender to all patrons, printers, 
brethren of the quill, and all others interested, my best 
wishes, and as an editor bid you a fraternal farewell. 

' ' ROEUFF BRINKERHOFF. ' ' 



102 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

My career as an editor gave me a large acquaintance 
in the state, and especially with politicians and editors. 
In those days the editors kept up an editorial association, 
and their annual meetings brought them together for two 
or three days, so that we became well acquainted, and 
our discussions were helpful to the fraternity in many 
ways. I was an active member of the association and 
attended all of its meetings, and have always retained a 
warm attachment for editors generally. In fact I know 
of no other body of men more genial or generous. 

It is the fashion of many public men to decry news- 
paper men, and especially newspaper reporters and inter- 
viewers, but my experience with them, with a very few 
exceptions, has given me a very high opinion of their 
ability and integrity. I have been interviewed and re- 
ported a great many times, and I have always been 
treated honorably and fairly, and I have often wondered 
how they managed, under the pressure and haste to 
which they were subjected, to make so few mistakes. 
The "boys," on our daily journals, who hustle for news 
have always had a warm place in my heart, and I never 
fail to give them a helping hand when I can, and they in 
return have helped me in numberless ways. In short, I 
have always found the reporters the most appreciative, 
the most responsive and the most helpful people I have 
ever met in all enterprises of a public character with 
which I have been connected. 

That modern daily newspapers are sensational and 
unclean is the fault of the public rather than of the 
reporters. If there was no demand there would be no 
supply, and no class of people would be more gratified 
than the reporters if there could be a change for the 
better. 

There are, of course, black sheep among editors and 
reporters as there are among lawyers, or doctors, or 



CAREKR AS AN EDITOR. 1 03 

preachers, but as a rule they are as useful to the public, 
and as considerate of the rights of others, as can be found 
in any of our professional classes. 

My observation and experience lead me to believe that 
editors receive less appreciation from the public than 
any other class of men of equal ability. Everybody is 
a critic of newspapers, and every one in his own estima- 
tion is wiser than the editor, and is sure that he can 
instruct him as to the management of his paper. During 
my career as an editor I do not remember, but one 
single instance, when any one came in and commended 
my work until after I had ceased to be an editor, and 
then I felt the commendations I received were simply 
clubs with which to beat the heads of my successors. 

The one instance of commendation referred to came 
from Rev. J. B. Walker, who, upon leaving for another 
field of labor, came in and subscribed for my paper and 
paid two or three years in advance, and said to me that 
I was doing good work, and doing it ably and well, and 
he wanted to make sure of receiving my paper weekly. 
Mr. Walker was one of the best men I have ever known, 
and he was as able as he was good. As a writer upon 
religious subjects he has had but few equals, and his 
' 'Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation" has been trans- 
lated into more languages than any other religious book 
by an American writer. I knew him very intimately, 
and his life and teachings did more than all others to 
dispel the doubts and difficulties that kept me back from 
a distinctively religious life. He had been through the 
same experiences and knew how to sympathize with me. 
When I first came to Mansfield, I attended his church, 
and soon became a teacher in his Sunday school. I was 
married by him in the church, and my wife and I, when 
we returned from Ashland, brought letters from the 
Presbyterian Church, which we had joined, and united 



104 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

with the Congregational Church, where we have re- 
mained ever since. 

That I valued the hearty approval of my editorial ca- 
reer by a man like J. B. Walker is not to be wondered 
at. My lifelong interest in Bible study had its inception 
largely, I think, from Mr. Walker, and especially from 
his expository sermons. At any rate, soon after I first 
knew him, I became a Sunday-school teacher, and ever 
since I have been the teacher of a Bible class; and as the 
years have come and gone, my interest in the Book of 
Books has been intensified, and all other books, in com- 
parison, have become trivial. The Book itself is the 
highest evidence of its divinity. It is as boundless as 
space, as inexhaustible as the ocean. 

The beginning of the end of slavery in the United 
States was the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. It is 
true, the old Abolitionists, of whom Garrison and Phil- 
lips were the leaders, have arrogated to themselves the 
honor of destroying slavery; but it seems to me they had 
very little to do with it, except to irritate the South to 
the madness which culminated in the repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compact and the enactment of the fugitive slave 
law. 

The Abolitionists of the North and the fire-eaters of 
the South were simply fanatics of the most ultra type, 
and each of these parties was an injury to the cause 
they championed rather than a help. They doubtless 
were honest men, and self-sacrificing, but they had no 
charity for each other, and were utterly oblivious to the 
fact that there are usually two sides to every question 
and that truth usually lies between two extremes. My 
experience in life is that the most dangerous man is a 
wrong-headed, strong-headed, honest man. Philip II in 
burning Protestants, Calvin in burning Servetus, Cotton 
Mather in burning old women as witches, were honest 



CAREER AS AN EDITOR. IO5. 

men, and no doubt thought they were doing God service, 
but nevertheless they were very cruel and very much 
mistaken. 

It must be admitted that men of this type, when they 
are right as well as honest, are very valuable. L,ike St. 
Paul after his conversion, they are indefatigable in well- 
doing, and so it comes about that the old Abolitionists of 
Massachusetts and the fire-eaters of South Carolina have 
furnished some of the ablest champions of peace and 
good will between the sections, of which Charles Sumner 
and Wade Hampton are good examples. A few years 
ago, I spent some days with William L,loyd Garrison, 
the son of the great antislavery leader, and a more 
kindly advocate of liberality to the South I have not met 
anywhere. 

During my editorial career, from 1855 to i860, I was 
an active member of what was known as the ' 'Associa- 
tion of Ohio Editors," and did as much, perhaps, as any 
one in the state to make the annual conventions enter- 
taining and instructive. These conventions were very 
beneficial to the editors, and to the public also. 

In those days, we made it a rule to have papers pre- 
pared upon subjects pertaining to the editorial and busi- 
ness management of newspapers, and the discussions 
that followed were full of information to newspaper men 
and brought about not only a better business manage- 
ment, but a higher standard in the editorial departments. 
I remember spending a good deal of time in preparing an 
essay upon advertising for the Dayton convention, in 
which I presented the history, methods and philosophy 
of advertising, which received a good deal of attention 
and was quoted largely. Of course, we always had a 
banquet and a jolly good time, and if nothing more 
came of the conventions than goodfellowship and mutual 



106 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

acquaintance among newspaper men, the time was well 
spent. 

The acquaintances I formed in that way have been of 
great value to me in numberless ways. They were 
nearly all older than I, and but very few are now alive, 
but I remember them all with gratitude. 



SALMON P. CHASE. 107 



CHAPTER IX. 

Salmon P. Chase. 

First acquaintance with Chase — His influence over me — Oberlin 
rescue case — The fugitive slave law — Decision of Ohio Supreme 
Court — Professor Peck in Cleveland jail — The state convention 
of 1859 — Coming events cast their shadows before — Interview 
with Governor Chase — The committee on resolutions — The 
famous third resolution — Presidential aspirations of Mr. Chase — 
Estrangement and reconciliation with Mr. Chase. 

Among the old abolitionists, by all means the ablest 
and wisest, in my judgment, was Salmon P. Chase. He 
was an intense antislavery man, but he was also a broad- 
minded man, and could understand how a proslavery man 
could be honest and sincere. Of the statesmen of his 
generation, Mr. Chase has impressed me as the greatest 
of them all. I knew him intimately, and was associated 
with him in many ways. I was a law student when I 
first knew him, and for some reason — possibly because I 
was a near kinsman of his friend and antislavery cola- 
borer, Jacob Brinkerhoff — he seemed to take a fancy to 
me. In fact, he made me his confidential agent and 
friend in various personal and political matters. Of 
course, to a young fellow like me such attention from a 
man of the standing and ability of Mr. Chase could not 
be other than gratifying, and I formed a close friendship 
with him, which lasted as long as he lived. In short, 
he became not only my friend, but my political god- 
father, and I followed his banner with enthusiasm until 
the final windup of the slavery question by the adoption of 



108 RECOIXECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to 
the constitution of the United States. 

Mr. Chase, mentally, morally and physically, was one 
of the noblest of men. He was a man of high ambition, 
but his ambition was entirely subordinate to his sense of 
duty. A single instance in my own personal experience 
with him will illustrate this characteristic; but in order 
to understand it fully it is necessary to give the circum- 
stances which led up to it. In the history of the anti- 
slavery contest in Ohio, the year 1859 is memorable on 
account of the Oberlin rescue cases, and the decision of 
the Supreme Court of Ohio sustaining the constitution- 
ality of the fugitive slave law, and the political results 
that followed. 

The Oberlin cases grew out of the arrest of a fugitive 
slave in that vicinity, by the United States marshal. The 
Oberlin people rallied to the rescue and succeeded in tak- 
ing the slave from the possession of the marshal, and 
posted him on to Canada. Warrants were then issued by 
the United States District Court at Cleveland, and thirty- 
seven of the Oberlin people were arrested and indicted 
for a violation of the fugitive slave law. Among these 
were Professor Peck of the college faculty and several 
leading citizens. They were taken to Cleveland and were 
held for trial in the county jail. The court offered to 
let them go home on their own recognizance whilst await- 
ing trial, but they preferred to remain in prison in the 
role of martyrs to the cause of freedom. 

I^ater on, two of them (L,angston and Bushnell) were 
convicted, and then the question of the constitutionality 
of the fugitive slave law was made by habeas corpus in 
the Supreme Court of Ohio. The court, a short time 
before the state convention, decided the case against the 
prisoners. Three of the judges sustaining the law as 
constitutional, and two dissenting. Chief -Justice Swan 



SALMON P. CHASE. 109 

gave the opinion of the majority of the court, and Judge 
Brinkerhoff of the minority. 

Many of the Republican leaders at this time favored 
the doctrine of state rights, and it was understood that 
Governor Chase would nullify the action of the United 
States Court if the Supreme Court of Ohio should hold 
the fugitive slave law unconstitutional, and if necessary, 
would call out the state militia to protect the prisoners. 

The result was a great disappointment to a majority of 
Republicans, and especially to those who were residents 
of the Western Reserve. To these, the action of Judge 
Swan was especially obnoxious, and although he had 
been elected five years before as a Republican, and had 
always been prominent as an antislavery man, they de- 
termined that he should not have a second term. 

The state convention was to be held on the second day 
of June, only two days after the rendition of Judge 
Swan's opinion, so that there was but little time for con- 
sultation, and, therefore, whatever was to be done was 
to be done quickly. To me it seemed imperative that 
something should be done to heal party differences or the 
state would be lost at the fall election. The Republicans 
in the southern half of the state, for the most part, were 
friendly to Judge Swan, and even Judge Brinkerhoff, 
who rendered the dissenting opinion, did not deem it 
right to strike Judge Swan for an honest opinion, and so 
the controversy became excited and threatened the dis- 
ruption of the party. 

As I had been elected a delegate to the convention, I 
deemed it wise to take a look at the situation from a 
northern standpoint, and so on Monday morning pre- 
ceding the convention, I went to Cleveland. I found 
a large preponderance of Republicans redhot against 
Judge Swan, but there was a difference among them as 
to what should be done with the Oberlin contingent in 



IIO RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the county jail. The more violent among them were in 
favor of having Professor Peck and a few more of the 
representative men among the prisoners give bail and go 
to the convention, which, of course, would add fuel to 
the fire. 

After getting the run of matters, I concluded to go 
up to the county jail, which was the storm-center of the 
existing disturbance, and see the prisoners. I knew 
Professor Peck very well, and that acquaintance, together 
with my kinship with Judge Brinkerhoff , gave me a cor- 
dial welcome. The jail was crowded with politicians, 
coming and going, some advising one thing and some 
another, so that Peck, who was a sensible man, was wor- 
ried to know just what to do, and when I came from a 
region outside of the local excitement he seemed very 
glad to see me. He took me aside and told me his per- 
plexities, and wanted me to advise him what to do. I 
told him I knew perfectly well what he ought to do, but 
I was unwilling to give advice unless he would agree to 
follow it, and not otherwise. 

Very likely he thought I represented Judge Brinker- 
hoff' s views, and possibly I did, but we held no confer- 
ence about it, and so he said all right, I must decide one 
way or the other, and I think your judgment is less 
likely to be biased than that of those about me. Well, I 
said, stay in jail as a conspicuous protest to the iniqui- 
ties of the fugitive slave law, and let us who are outside 
take care of the convention. The result was that Peck 
and his associates staid in jail, and next morning I took 
an early train for Columbus. I found the train crowded 
with people going to the convention, and opinions like 
the north wind, all blew one way, and that was against 
Judge Swan. As we went south, however, we were 
joined by delegations from other sections, and counter- 
currents began to appear. 



SALMON P. CHASE. Ill 

When we got to Columbus, we found the delegations 
from the south as strong for Swan as those from the 
north were against him, and the battle began in earnest. 
Before evening, it was evident that Judge Swan must go, 
but it was equally evident that the Swan men would bolt 
the convention unless some compromise could be brought 
about. 

As the anti-Swan men had a safe working majority 
they concluded to relegate all discussion to the commit- 
tee upon resolutions, and put their program through the 
open convention with a high hand without debate, 
and then if the minority wanted to bolt, let them take 
the responsibility upon themselves. 

As conventions were managed in those days, the dele- 
gations from the several congressional districts, in the 
evening, after the temporary organization, were expected 
to select a representative on each of the regular commit- 
tees. In our district, the thirteenth, the most prominent 
man was Governor Thomas H. Ford, and the Richland 
county delegation put him forward for the committee 
upon resolutions, but the Reserve counties considered 
him too conservative for their purposes, and therefore, 
opposed him, although for various reasons, they were 
willing that our county should have the man. After a 
good deal of caucasing and controversy, the reserve 
counties proposed as a compromise that they would be 
satisfied if my name was proposed by Richland county. 
This proposition was acceded to and I was selected not 
because of any special ability or promise, but because I 
was a kinsman of Judge Brinkerhoff, and was supposed 
to be in harmony with his ideas. 

In the morning, soon after the committees were an- 
nounced, I received a message from Governor Chase re- 
questing that I should call and see him at the state 
house. I found him in the governor's office surrounded 



112 RECOIXKCTIONS OF A UFKTIME. 

by a crowd of politicians, but as soon as he saw me he 
took me to his private room, and as soon as we were 
alone he told me he understood that I was a member of 
the committee upon resolutions, and that he had prepared 
some resolutions for the consideration of the committee, 
and that he desired me to present them if I found 
them in sympathy with my own views. He gave me the 
resolutions, and said he would give me time to look over 
them and would return presently, and then went back to 
his office. I saw he was troubled and worried, and as I 
read his platform I saw he was evidently hopeless of 
harmony in the convention. 

When he returned, he asked what I thought of his 
resolutions. I told him his propositions were very clearly 
stated, and that personally I could agree with them, but, 
I said, you of course understand that if these resolutions 
are adopted by the convention that a bolt is inevitable, 
and that the state will be lost. Yes, he said, that is 
probably true, but my judgment is that we should pro- 
claim the truth and go down with our flag flying. He 
said he had done his best to harmonize conflicting opin- 
ions and had found it impossible, and, therefore, under 
the circumstances, thought the majority should assert 
themselves, and if the minority wanted to bolt, let them 
take the responsibility of defeat upon themselves. I said 
to him that it seemed to me that an army fighting a 
common enemy, ought to find some plan of joint action 
and not turn their guns on each other. Defeat in Ohio 
meant danger to the cause all over the country, and 
probably the loss of the presidential election next year 
(i860). 

Again, it meant the loss of all hope for his nomination 
for President, a matter in which I, and many others, were 
greatly interested in Ohio. He looked at me a moment, 
and said, I don't want you to consider any personal 



SALMON P. CHASK. 113 

interest I may have in the matter. If I know myself, 
and I think I do, I would not jeopardize for an instant 
any principle involved in this contest to promote in the 
slightest my personal ambitions. Well, I said, let us see 
if something cannot be done without a sacrifice of prin- 
ciple, and I sat down at his table and wrote the resolu- 
tion, which subsequently became famous as the third 
resolution in the platform of that year, and which saved 
the party from defeat. The resolution was as follows: 

' 'Resolved, That proclaiming our determination rigidly 
to respect the constitutional obligations imposed upon the 
states by the federal compact, we maintain the union of 
the states, the rights of the states and the liberties of the 
people; and in order to attain these important ends, we 
demand the repeal of the fugitive slave act of 1850, as 
subversive of both the rights of the states, and the liber- 
ties of the people, and as contrary to the plainest dictates 
of humanity and justice, and as abhorrent to the moral 
sense of the civilized world." 

It will be noticed I did not say the fugitive slave law 
was unconstitutional, which would please the Swan fac- 
tion, but I did say, as strongly as I could, that the fugi- 
tive slave law was an outrage, which ought to please the 
anti-Swan men, and did not stultify anybody. 

I handed the resolution to Mr. Chase. He considered 
it carefully, and said he could accept it, but the com- 
mittee would not. Very well, I said, let me try it before 
attempting anything stronger. 

All right, he said, and we parted. 

The personnel of the committee on resolutions was 
unusually strong in the prominence and ability of its 
members. It consisted of twenty-one members con- 
tributed by the congressional districts as follows: 



8 



114 RECOU^CTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

i. G. B. Hollister. 12. Henry D. Cooke. 

2. James Cox. 13. R. Brinkerhoff. 

3. Iy. D. Campbell. 14. James Monroe. 

4. M. H. Nichols. 15. J. C. Davis. 

5. James M. Ashley. 16. Danl. Applegate. 

6. J. H. Kincaid. 17. J. F. Cowan. 

7. Thomas Corwin. 18. Sidney Exgerton. 

8. Benj. Stanton. 19. B. F. Backus. 

9. B. Stilling. 20. B. F. Wade. 

10. A. P. Miller. 21. John A. Bingham. 

11. I,. H. Culver. 

Of these, eight were members of congress, from the 
third, fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, eighteenth, twentieth, 
and twenty-first districts. 

Professor Monroe, of the fifteenth district, was subse- 
quently elected to congress. Henry D. Cooke, from the 
twelfth district, was then editor of the "Sandusky Reg- 
ister," and was afterwards governor of the District of 
Columbia. In fact, all the districts, except the thir- 
teenth, were represented by men of prominence. 

In such a committee, my own obscurity was in reality 
a help to me, for I was not conspicuous enough to invite 
or attract antagonism. I was personally acquainted 
with about one-half of the committee, but of these 
Henry D. Cooke was the only one with whom I had 
close relations, and through him I was introduced to the 
others. 

Hon. B. F. Wade, then United States senator, was 
elected chairman, but it was soon announced that he had 
been made permanent chairman of the convention, and 
Mr. Corwin was then made chairman of the committee. 
In the convention, on motion of Mr. Giddings, D. W. C. 
Ratliff was appointed to take the place of Mr. Wade on 
the committee on resolutions. 



SALMON P. CHASK. 1 15 

After the committee was organized, it was suggested 
that those who had resolutions or platform already pre- 
pared should present them for consideration, and a ma- 
jority of the members responded; a shower of resolutions 
and some elaborate platforms were immediately forth- 
coming, and the fugitive slave law at once became the 
storm center. 

For various reasons, it seemed to me desirable that 
this subject should be kept in abeyance until subjects of 
minor interest could be disposed of, and therefore I sug- 
gested to Mr. Cooke to make a motion to that effect, 
which he did, and it was adopted. It soon became ap- 
parent, as is usually the case on such occasions, that 
almost every member had some idea he desired to incor- 
porate in the platform, and I made it my business to 
help every one I could to succeed in his specialty, and 
the result was that by the time we got around to my 
specialty I had quite a number of delegates under some 
obligations to me for friendly votes. 

After awhile we got around to the main question, and 
the battle began in earnest, and waxed hotter and hotter 
until it got red-hot, and almost culminated in a personal 
encounter between Ashley and Nichols. This was sup- 
pressed, but the war of words went on until a call came 
from the convention to hurry up the platform, and it was 
evident that they must stop talking and begin voting. 

My time had come, and when Campbell rose to move 
the previous question, I requested him to allow me to be 
heard for a moment, to which he assented; and I com- 
menced by saying that the committee would bear me 
witness that in the long discussion I had not said a word 
or taken up a moment of time, and I was sure they 
would admit that I was entitled to be heard for a few 
minutes. I asked them to remember that in the great 
contest for the restriction of slavery we were friends and 



Il6 RKCOI^KCTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

not enemies, and because we differed in our methods of at- 
tack upon the common enemy we ought not to fight each 
other, but should find some plan of operations upon 
which we could unite our forces. In the main, I agreed 
with our friends from the North that the fugitive slave 
law was unconstitutional, but I could understand how 
our friends from the South could honestly think differ- 
ently, and yet I knew they were as earnestly opposed to 
the extension of slavery as I was, which, after all, was 
the main objective point. 

When we remember that our chairman (Mr. Corwin) 
was a member of the cabinet of President Fillmore and as- 
sented to the approval of the fugitive slave law, we cer- 
tainly could not ask him now to declare it unconstitu- 
tional, but I could ask him to assent to the evil effects of 
that law and to ask for its repeal. In short, I had a 
resolution in my hand that I desired to offer as a substi- 
tute for pending propositions, and I was certain it was 
broad enough to afford standing room for every honest 
antislavery man without stultification or mental reserva- 
tion. 

I read my resolution, and Mr. Corwin at once called 
John A. Bingham to the chair, and came on the floor 
and made a half hour's speech against it. He said the 
gentlemen from Richland county had disclaimed any in- 
tention of asking him to pronounce the fugitive slave 
law unconstitutional, but a law "subversive of the rights 
of the states and the liberties of the people," as this 
resolution describes it, in the nature of things, must be 
unconstitutional, and, therefore, he was opposed to it. 

By this time various members of the committee began 
to realize that my resolution was a practicable road out 
of our difficulties. Professor Monroe made a speech in 
its favor and others followed, and the result was that 
when a vote was reached, it was adopted by a handsome 



SALMON P. CHASE. 117 

majority. Subsequently it was reported to the conven- 
tion, where it was approved with substantial unanimity, 
and the current of history was changed. 

John A. Bingham reported our platform to the con- 
vention for the reason that Mr. Corwin declined to do so 
on account of my resolution, but he did not bolt, and 
subsequently supported the ticket. In fact, there was 
no bolt whatever, although extremists were more or less 
dissatisfied. 

Mr. Dennison was nominated for governor, and Wm. 
Y. Gholson, of Cincinnati, for supreme judge, and the 
whole ticket was triumphantly elected in October. Our 
victory in Ohio, in 1859, made a national victory possible 
in i860, and its culminating result was the election of 
Abraham Lincoln as President. 

Salmon P. Chase was the logical candidate of the Re- 
publicans for President in i860, and he would have been 
the candidate except for the opposition of the old Whig 
element in the Republican Party in Ohio under the 
leadership of Mr. Corwin. Intellectually, Mr. Chase 
was the superior of Mr. Lincoln, but he was not a pop- 
ular leader, and lacked that matchless, political sagacity 
so conspicuous in Mr. Lincoln, and which was so indis- 
pensable to a pilot of the ship of state in the stormy 
years of the Great Rebellion. 

The old silver gray Whigs never forgave Mr. Chase 
for having been elected to the senate as an antislavery 
Democrat, and they always antagonized him when an 
opportunity offered. In a long letter I received from 
him after the presidential convention, he told me of the 
defections of the Ohio delegation, but he took his defeat 
philosophically, and went on his way rejoicing in the 
prospects of victory for the antislavery cause. 

When Mr. Lincoln became President, Mr. Chase went 
into his cabinet as secretary of the treasury, where his 



Il8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

services were of incalculable value. During the time he 
was in the cabinet I did not see him often; but after he 
became chief justice I was stationed some months in 
Washington and met him frequently, and after the war 
I was often in Washington, and always called upon him. 
He was one of the most companionable, as well as one 
of the wisest of men. 

The only weakness I ever detected in him was the 
infatuation of his later years to be President, and I al- 
ways thought that arose more from a desire to gratify 
the ambition of his daughter rather than his own. Upon 
this subject he seemed to be unable to see, what every 
well-informed person could not help seeing, that the 
presidency to him was impossible. 

A single incident will illustrate this: Some months 
previous to the nomination of General Grant for Presi- 
dent, in 1868, I came to Washington from Ohio, and the 
next day being Sunday, I went to the Foundry Church, 
where many of the army officers were in the habit of 
going during the war, on account of the vigorous loy- 
alty of its pastor, and where Mr. Chase made his church 
home. Upon coming out of the church after the ser- 
vices, by an accident I met Mr. Chase, and we walked 
together along E street on our way home. At that time 
he was living with his daughter, Mrs. Senator Sprague. 
When we came to the house he invited me to stop. He 
said the family were away and he wanted to talk with 
me, and so I went in. The servant brought us a lunch, 
and he began to talk about the political outlook, and 
wound up finally by asking me what I thought of his 
prospects for the nomination, and especially of his pros- 
pects in Ohio. 

Knowing that the truth, as I saw it, would be very 
distasteful to him, I hesitated and talked around the 
subject, rather than at it, long enough to make up my 



SALMON P. CHASE. 119 

mind just what to say; but the more I thought about it 
the more I felt that somebody ought to tell him the 
truth, and the whole truth, and I might as well do it as 
anybody else. In doing so, however, I took special 
pains to put it gently and kindly. 

I told him that many of his oldest and truest friends 
were in doubt as to whether it was best for him, or the 
country, that he should exchange his position of chief 
justice for that of the presidency, even if it was entirely 
practicable for him to do so. Now that the war was 
over, there were many men who could fill the office of 
President fairly well; but where was the man who could 
take his place as chief justice ? I referred him to Chief 
Justice Marshall and his enormous influence for good 
in shaping events after the revolutionary war, and en- 
deavored to impress upon him the fact, which was a fact, 
that Chief Justice Chase could be more potential for 
good than President Chase, and would be remembered 
longer. 

Then I took up the general outlook of affairs, and re- 
minded him that after every war it was the soldier, and 
not the statesman, that became the popular idol, and 
that now, as it had been before, it was inevitable that for 
many years to come bullet-headed soldiers, rather than 
statesmen, would fill the presidential chair, and for this 
reason, if for no other, it was of the utmost importance 
that one statesman, at least, should be upon the supreme 
bench. In short, I wound up in telling him that his 
nomination was not possible, and that the wisest thing for 
him to do was to get it out of his mind and bend all his 
energies to his duties as chief justice, and make his 
record illustrious. 

As I anticipated, he did not take my advice kindly, or 
rather he did not accept my diagnosis of the case; on the 
contrary, he took up at least an hour to convince me that 



120 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

my conclusions were all wrong, and that he could and 
would receive the nomination. The result was our old- 
time relations were severed, at least it seemed to me that 
his old-time cordiality was gone, and I did not call upon 
him when I came to Washington, as I always did in 
former years. 

Not long afterwards, during the impeachment trial of 
President Johnson, I was on the floor of the senate every 
day, and he could not help seeing me but he made no 
sign of recognition. So the years went on, Grant was 
elected President, and Chase was again a candidate for 
President and was defeated by Horatio Seymour, and his 
last chance for the coveted position was gone; but yet 
my old friendly relations with him had not been re- 
stored. 

Some months before his death, however, I was in 
Washington, and going up to the* capital one day, near 
the head of Pennsylvania avenue, I met Mr. Chase re- 
turning from the supreme court room. He did not see 
me, and did not seem to see anybody, but walked with 
his head bowed forward, and I noticed a stoop in his 
shoulders, and he looked haggard and worn, so that my 
sympathies were aroused and I made up my mind I would 
go and see him. He was then living on I street, not far 
from the Ebbitt House, where I was stopping, and so in 
the evening I went to his house, and sent in my card. 
He sent for me at once, and I went into the library 
where I found him alone, and no one interrupted us for 
an hour. 

He received me with his old-time cordiality, and I had 
a very pleasant visit with him. He did not refer to the 
past with any bitterness, neither did he look into the 
future with hopefulness. In fact, it struck me that 
he was pessimistic rather than hopeful. I remember that 
he referred to the fact that I had been active in promul- 



SALMON P. CHASK. 121 

gating the doctrine of revenue reform, and heartily 
commended me, but he said, ' 'even if you succeed you 
can have no assurance that it will last. Public opinion 
was as fickle as the wind, and was here to-day and gone 
to-morrow. ' ' 

In leaving him, he gave me a kindfy good-bye, and 
hoped I would always come and see him when I was in 
Washington. We parted, and I never saw him again. 



122 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME). 

CHAPTER X. 

Various Events. 

A home of our own — Pittsburgh Convention — Discordant elements 
— Charles Reemelin as an orator — A national party organized — 
The Fremont Convention — Hobby number one — Pioneer history 
— Return to law again — Lincoln's inauguration. 

In 1855, my wife and I bought three acres of ground 
on the north side of Market street (now Park avenue), 
opposite to Sturges avenue. We enlarged the cottage on 
it, and lived there about eight years; and during that 
time had ample opportunity to gratify our tastes for trees, 
flowers, and gardening. Our daughters were born in that 
house, and our joys were many and our sorrows few. 

During these years, having acquired the lands, where 
we have since lived, the family, in 1863, during my ab- 
sence in the army, moved into a cottage adjoining, on an 
acre of ground, acquired from a clergyman by the name 
of Collins. Bast of this house was an open clover field, 
upon which, five years later, we built our present home- 
stead, and named it Clover Hill. This field was only a 
pasture lot, so that every tree and shrub and plant upon 
it has been of our own selection and planting, and each 
is a part of family history. We moved into our present 
home January 1, 1869, and the years that have come and 
gone since then, are filled with happy memories. 

Four acres of ground in the midst of a city, as they 
now are, may seem extravagant, but it is the only direc- 
tion in which I have been inclined to be extravagant, 
and I am very sure we have been amply repaid by the 
enjoyments and delightful memories resulting therefrom. 
To my mind mere is no influence more powerful for 



th 




a 








a 




W 








IB 




P- 




n 




3 




r> 




m 




c 


~ 


K, 


n 


P 


r 


3 


o 


n 


<^ 


P 


w 


td 


w 


•i 






w 




M 




r 1 





r 




VARIOUS EVENTS. 1 23 

good, in the training of children, than to make home the 
most delightful place on earth. At least this was the 
experience of my own childhood and youth, and I have 
endeavored to transmit similar experience to my own 
children. 

One of the most important events during my editorial 
career, and of which I was a part, was the convention 
held at Pittsburgh, February 22, 1856, at which the Re- 
publican Party, as a national organization, came into 
existence. Prior to this time it was only in a few states 
where the opponents of the repeal of the Missouri com- 
promise had taken the name of Republicans. 

The call for the Pittsburgh Convention was signed by 
A. P. Stone, of Ohio, J. B. Goodrich, of Massachusetts, 
I^awrence Brainard, of Vermont, and William A. White, 
of Wisconsin, as chairmen of the Republican organiza- 
tions of their several states, and the purpose assigned 
was the foundation of a national organization, and to 
provide for a national delegate convention, to nominate 
candidates for President and vice-president. To this con- 
vention, so far as I remember, Jacob Brinkerhoff and I 
were the only delegates from Richland county. 

According to my recollection, there were no official 
delegates, and the convention was in fact a mass meeting 
of all who claimed to be opposed to the extension of 
slavery. However, it was a notable occasion, and as 
much depended upon its harmonious action, in a political 
way, as any held in my time. 

The convention was composed of very discordant ele- 
ments, and it was a very difficult task to bring them into 
harmonious action. 

The largest number of delegates were of Whig ante- 
cedents, and next to them were those of Democratic 
antecedents. These again were divided into Know-noth- 
ings, or North Americans, as they called themselves, 



124 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

and from Cincinnati and some other cities came repre- 
sentatives of the German Turner organizations. 

To these also should be added the Freesoilers and 
the Abolitionists. To harmonize such antagonistic ele- 
ments required generalship of a high order, for the only 
idea held in common by them all was opposition to the 
extension of slavery, and hence the only way possible 
for joint action was a platform of practically one plank. 
This was finally accomplished, but failure was imminent 
every hour. 

The convention was organized by the selection as 
chairman Francis P. Blair, of Maryland, the close friend 
and adviser of President Jackson during his administra- 
tion, and to whom Jackson left by will his private letters 
and papers. Blair was a representative of the Freesoil 
Party, which came into existence as a national organiza- 
tion in 1848, and supported Martin Van Buren for Presi- 
dent, and among its chief supporters were Chase, Charles 
Francis Adams, Charles Sumner, David Wilmot, Jacob 
Brinkerhoff, Preston King and others. The Freesoilers 
had already left the old parties, and had burned the 
bridges behind them, and were ready to join the new 
party in a body. The antislavery Whigs, under the 
leadership of Lincoln, Seward, Greeley, Fessenden, 
Thadeus Stevens and others, were more numerous than 
the recruits from other parties, but they were wise 
enough to give prominence to a Freesoil Democrat from 
a slave state like Blair. The Know-nothings were also 
a national organization, and, under the leadership of 
such men as Henry Wilson, N. P. Banks, Burlingame, 
Colfax and Henry Winter Davis, had a large following 
in a number of states. The old Abolitionists were also 
an important factor, although they had no distinct or- 
ganization. They were represented at Pittsburgh by 
Joshua R. Giddings and others. Next to the antislavery 



VARIOUS EVENTS. 1 25 

Whigs, of course, in point of numbers the antislavery 
Democrats were the most numerous, and among them 
were Hannibal Hamlin, Simon Cameron, layman Trum- 
bull, William C. Bryant and others. 

With elements so diverse, and all were represented in 
the Pittsburgh Convention, it was not easy to secure har- 
monious action. The Whigs were Protectionists, the 
Democrats were Freetraders, the Know-nothings were 
opposed to the foreigners, and the foreign-born citizens 
were opposed to the Know-nothings, and it was very 
soon evident that the only thing in common among 
them was opposition to slavery, and that everything else 
must be kept in abeyance. 

The hardest people to manage were the Know-noth- 
ings and the Germans. The former under the leadership 
of Julian, of Indiana, and the latter under Charles 
Reemelin, of Cincinnati, were furious against each other, 
and it looked very much as if the convention would 
break up in a row the first night, and I think it would 
except for a speech made by a delegate from New Jersey, 
by the name of David Ripley, who called himself the 
"Saw IyOg Man." He was an uncultured man, and I do 
not know on what side he was speaking, and I doubt if 
he knew himself, but the oddity of the man, and his 
uncouth gestures, and his stories and personal experi- 
ences, were so immensely funny that the convention 
laughed itself into a good humor, and the result was 
that an adjournment was secured without further colli- 
sion between the warring factions, and by morning 
milder counsels prevailed, and in the end harmonious 
action was secured, although at one time an explosion 
was imminent. The final encounter between the Know- 
nothings and their opponents came on in the afternoon 
of the second day. 

Gibson, of Ohio, made a furious onslaught upon the 



126 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Know-nothings, and insisted upon their exclusion from 
the new party. Julian, of Indiana, retaliated. Both 
were fine orators, and they worked up an intense an- 
tagonism which boded evil to the convention, but before 
a vote could be ordered, Reemelin, of Cincinnati, got the 
floor. He was a cultured orator, trained in the uni- 
versities of Germany, but his accent was so perfect that 
he could hardly be recognized as a foreigner by his 
speech. He called a halt on passion, and begged for 
calmer counsels. 

Just there an incident occurred to help him, which 
seemed almost providential. It had been a gloomy day, 
enhanced by a drizzling rain, but as Reemelin got fairly 
started in his plea for harmony, the clouds parted, and 
the sunlight poured through the western windows in a 
flood of radiance upon the great audience. Reemelin, 
with infinite tact, took in the incident as an admonition 
to the convention as to the spirit in which the pending 
controversy should be met, and related with wonderful 
power the old fable from iEsop of the Sun and the North 
Wind in their efforts to induce a traveler to take off his 
coat. It was one of the happiest flights of oratory I 
have ever witnessed, and the result was a harmonious 
conclusion. Reemelin, Gibson and Julian I have often 
heard since then, but I have never heard them more to 
their own credit than in the Pittsburgh Convention, but 
the greatest of the three at that time was Reemelin. 

The convention planted itself upon the single issue of 
opposition to slavery, and gave a cordial invitation to all 
citizens, without regard to creed, color, nationality or 
previous political affiliation to unite with them. Upon 
this platform the battle of liberty was fought, and when 
this was accomplished the Republican Party ought to 
have resolved itself into its original elements instead of 
foisting old Whiggery upon the Democratic adherents. 



VARIOUS EVENTS. 1 27 

Time however has had its revenges and the era of pro- 
tection is passing away. 

At the Pittsburgh Convention a national convention 
for the nomination of candidates for President and vice- 
president was arranged for to meet June 17, 1856, at 
Philadelphia. An appeal to the American people, pre- 
pared and read by Henry J. Raymond, the editor of the 
''New York Times," was adopted, and the convention 
adjourned. 

The Pittsburgh Convention was the first national con- 
vention I ever attended, and it was one of the most im- 
portant ever convened in the country. For some reason 
it has never attracted much attention in the histories of 
that time, but it was an important historic event and will 
be studied more in the future than it has been in the 
past.* To me it was helpful in many ways. It not only 
broadened my vision, but it gave me an acquaintance 
with many of the leading men of the time, that has been 
useful to me in many ways ever since. Among the 
friendships that I formed at Pittsburgh was that of 
William Dennison, afterwards governor of Ohio, and 
postmaster-general in the cabinet of President Lincoln. 
I probably had met him before at Columbus, but I do 
not remember when, but at Pittsburgh he was a can- 
didate against A. P. Stone for the position of committee- 
man for Ohio, in the national organization of the Re- 
publican Party, and I supported him warmly. He was 
defeated, but he appreciated my good will for him, and 
he was my friend as long as he lived. 

* There is now in preparation a complete history of the Pitts- 
burgh Convention, by Rev. Paul Weyand, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and 
as I am one of the few surviving delegates, he has asked me to aid 
him in securing biographies of the Ohio delegates. There were 
about sixty, and we have nearly all of them, and so far every 
man subsequently attained distinction in county, state or national 
affairs. (April 25, 1900.) 



128 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Mr. Dennison was not a great man, but he was an ac- 
complished gentleman, and a reliable and efficient execu- 
tive officer. His ability as governor of Ohio at the 
opening of the war was everywhere recognized, and 
gave him a national reputation, and made him post- 
master-general upon the retirement of Montgomery 
Blair from Mr. Iyincoln's cabinet. 

The Republican National Convention met at Philadel- 
phia, June 17, 1856, the anniversary of the Battle of 
Bunker Hill. I was not a delegate, but attended as a 
looker on. Josiah Scott, afterwards Chief Justice Scott, 
of Ohio, and I roomed together at the Continental Hotel, 
and between us we managed to be on the inside, and 
lend a helping hand to the supporters of Fremont. It 
was of course a much greater convention, in point of 
numbers, than that at Pittsburgh, but in results it was 
far inferior. Pittsburgh was a tempestuous sea; Phila- 
delphia was a land locked bay, and the sailing was easy. 
Fremont was nominated for President and Dayton for 
vice-president; there was a grand jollification at night, 
at which William H. Gibson, of Ohio, carried off the 
honors as an orator and the convention dissolved. 

I was an ardent supporter of Fremont, the Pathfinder 
— as we called him — and I went to New York City to see 
him. He lived on Tenth street, and I called upon him 
in company with Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston, and had 
a pleasant interview. Fremont as an explorer was a 
great success, and deserves grateful remembrance from 
the American people, but it was doubtless a blessing 
that he was defeated for President. We are all apt to 
be hero worshipers, more or less, but as a rule the nearer 
we get to our heroes the smaller they get, and as we 
grow older our heroes decrease in number as well as in 
magnitude. 

One of the definitions Webster gives to the word 



VARIOUS EVENTS. 1 29 

hobby is "a favorite and ever-recurring theme of dis- 
course, thought or effort." In the sense I use the 
word, it means a favorite theme of thought and study 
outside of regular business pursuits, and in that sense I 
think every one who has a hobby is happier and more 
useful. I have always had at least one such hobby on 
hand, and sometimes two or three at a time, and I have 
never known a man to amount to much who never had a 
hobby. The hobby I am about to describe is called 
Number One, although in fact I had several short-lived 
ones before that, but they did not amount to much. 

Number One, ought, perhaps to be called my pioneer 
hobby, because it arose out of my special interest in the 
early history of my own county of Richland, Ohio. My 
wife was the grand-daughter of General Robert Bently, 
one of the early pioneers of the county, and through him 
I came in contact with many others of the early settlers. 

The pioneers of Ohio were the picked men of the East, 
for only brave and strong men were able to endure and 
overcome the howling wilderness which extended from 
the Ohio river to the Lakes, and the men who did this 
developed an individuality that presented a very at- 
tractive and interesting study. 

There were giants in those days, and their idiosyncra- 
cies and their exploits greatly interested me, and I felt 
that they deserved to be remembered, and so when I be- 
came an editor and came into frequent contact with them 
as my subscribers I began to interview them, and make 
notes of their recollections. After a while I began to 
publish these notes, and so as the months and years went 
on, without any special effort, I gathered and preserved 
the more important incidents of the early history of the 
county. Many years later when the pioneers were mostly 
gone, my early interest in them enabled me to furnish 
9 



130 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the material essential for the only history yet published 
of our count}^, so that my Hobby Number One was not 
only a source of much enjoyment but became of great 
practical value in preserving the materials of history. 
Hobby Number One led up to Hobby Number Two 
some years later. 

Upon retiring from the newspaper business I returned 
to the law and opened an office in the "Herald" build- 
ing, the ownership of which I retained. I was alone for 
some months and then formed a partnership with James 
Purdy, under the firm name of Purdy and Brinkerhoff. 
Mr. Purdy was president of the Farmer's Bank, and our 
office was in the bank building at the southwest corner 
of the park. Practically, Mr. Purdy had retired from 
business, but he had a good library and some law-books, 
and could control some business. He was friendly to 
me and gave me office rent free and all I could make out 
of the business. 

After a few months with him, sometime in i860, I 
formed another law partnership with Darius Dirlam, 
afterwards a common pleas judge, and we opened an of- 
fice over M. L. Miller's clothing store, on the northeast 
corner of Main and Third streets. We went into busi- 
ness to win, and stuck to it and attended to it closely and 
were gradually getting a foothold when the guns of 
Sumter sounded and the War of the Rebellion opened. 

I had been deeply interested in the presidential elec- 
tion of i860, and had done my part upon the stump, and at 
the polls, to secure the election of Lincoln. When he 
was inaugurated I was in Washington to witness the 
ceremony and remained there for some days. 

I attended Mr. Lincoln's first reception at the White 
House, and witnessed the meeting of Senator Douglas 
and the President immediately after the declaration of 
the former in favor of the Union. Politically and so- 



VARIOUS EVENTS. 131 

cially, everything was in a tumult of disintegration, and 
it was hard to tell friends from foes. The air was full of 
rumors of treason in the army, treason in the navy, and 
treason everywhere. I saw leading men on both sides, 
and made the acquaintance of some. 

General Scott was the commander-in-chief of the 
army, and I considered it quite an event to see him. It 
was at the White House as he was entering to visit 
the President. It was the only time I ever saw him. I 
do not remember to have seen a man of finer presence. 
He was over six feet high and had an eye like an eagle, 
and, although weighted with years, and crippled with 
rheumatism, he was an impressive figure. He was, how- 
ever, a man of the past and lacked the spirit and nerve 
essential for the time, and the result was a dilatory policy 
which allowed the rebellion immense advantages before 
anything effectual was attempted. 

The rebellion was already under way. During the pre- 
ceding winter President Buchanan did nothing but tempor- 
ize, and congress spent its time in discussing compromises. 
In the meantime the South was swiftly preparing for war. 
All that Buchanan seemed to care for was to preserve the 
status quo until the close of his administration, and the 
result was that the rebellion had a firm hold on some of the 
most important strategic points in the South. In Charles- 
ton harbor, as early as December 26, i860, the rebels were 
in possession of everything except Fort Sumter, into 
which Major Anderson, with his little band of eighty 
men, retreated on that day, and no serious effort was made 
to reinforce or relieve him during the Buchanan adminis- 
tration, and then, apparently, it was too late. How far 
General Scott was to blame for this pusillanimous policy 
I do not know. 

Had General Jackson been President when Major An- 
derson occupied Fort Sumter, and called for aid, the re- 



132 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

bellion would have been throttled in a month. As it 
was, when Lincoln came in, it was not easy to tell just 
what ought to be done, and it took time to find out who 
could be trusted. To me, with my knowledge of south- 
ern temper and southern plans, the situation was unbear- 
able, and I was hot for action of some kind. I remem- 
ber attending a conference of several members of con- 
gress at Senator Sherman's room at Willard's Hotel, 
where a young navy officer (a lieutenant commander, I 
think, by the name of Stone), who had a plan to relieve 
Fort Sumter, which pleased me immensely, for it meant 
business, and I still believe it was entirely feasible. At 
any rate, he was willing to command the expedition and 
risk his life on it. He simply wanted three merchant 
steamers, which he said could be had in forty-eight hours 
in New York, and which he would load with supplies 
and troops, and run the gauntlet of batteries at Charles- 
ton harbor and relieve Fort Sumter. Very likely, he 
said, he would loose one, and possibly two, of his ships, 
but he was sure he could reach Fort Sumter with at least 
one ship, and that would be enough. However, nothing 
came of it, and the policy of inaction continued. I came 
home in a fever of impatience and awaited events. 

At last, on the 12th of April, the rebels at Charleston 
were foolish enough to take the initiation themselves, and 
force activity on the part of the government at Washing- 
ton. When the guns of Sumter sounded, I was happy, 
for I knew that the beginning of the end had come, and 
I knew that the fool policy of Horace Greeley and other 
frantic Abolitionists ("Let the wayward sisters go in 
peace' ' ) was gone forever, and that the Union would be 
preserved. In that faith I never wavered from the be- 
ginning to the end of the war. 



FIRST YEAR OF THF, RFBFJJJON. 1 33 



CHAPTER XL 

First Year of thf Rkbfujon. 

The guns of Sumter — News received in Mansfield — Proclamation 
of the President — The Sherman Brigade — My enlistment as a 
soldier — A model military instructor — Our West Point colonels — 
Ordered to the front — My experience as quartermaster — Duties 
at Bardstown — Interview with General Thomas — St. Joseph's 
College as a hospital — Generosity of Father Verdon — Ordered to 
Nashville — Visit to the Hermitage — Ordered to the front — On 
Shiloh battle field — Placed in charge of transportation— Views as 
to the treatment of slaves — Placed on the sick list — Leave of ab- 
sence granted — Trip up the lakes — Ordered to Boston. 

The 1 2th of April, 1861, if I remember rightly, was 
Sunday. The clouds of war had been gathering for 
weeks, but as yet there was neither thunder nor tempest. 
Most people believed that nothing would come of it but 
brag and bluster on the part of the South, and that some 
kind of a compromise would be patched up again and 
peace and quiet would follow. It is true that seven 
states had seceded and established a provisional govern- 
ment at Montgomery, Alabama, early in February, but 
as yet there had been no collision between contending 
forces, and the fact that the other Southern States halted 
and hesitated gave room for hope that wiser counsels 
would prevail and the storm would blow over, but with 
the roar of the guns at Sumter came the tornado. I re- 
member it well. There had been ugly rumors from 
Charleston for a day or two, and possibly on Sunday 
stray telegrams of actual collision, and expectation was 



134 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

on tiptoe for full reports in the newspapers on Monday 
morning. 

The first morning newspapers due at Mansfield were 
from Columbus, so I walked down towards the railroad 
station and met the newsboy with the ' 'Ohio State Jour- 
nal." A glance at the head lines showed that the bom- 
bardment of Sumter was in progress. I walked rapidly 
back to the court-house, where the common pleas court 
was about to open, and found quite a number of lawyers 
already gathered, and as they surrounded me I read the 
news. There was a dead silence for a moment, and then 
a lawyer by the name of Johnson, afterwards a member 
of congress, and who was recognized as a southern sym- 
pathizer, remarked with a sneer: "Some of you fellows 
will have a chance to volunteer now." Some one re- 
marked: "Yes; and we ought to commence work by 
hanging rebels like you. " The room was hot in a mo- 
ment and Johnson disappeared; but he turned up again 
a few days later and made a patriotic speech at a flag 
presentation to our first volunteer company. 

On the 14th of April, 1861, the proclamation of Presi- 
dent Lincoln, asking for seventy-five thousand volun- 
teers, was issued. Within twenty-four hours, two full 
regiments were recruited in Ohio, and on the next day 
they reported in separate companies at Columbus, en 
route for Washington, and were organized as the First 
and Second Regiments of Ohio Volunteers. On the re- 
ception of the President's call, on "the 15th of April, 
a notice was given for a public meeting at the court- 
house, and by morning a full company of volunteers was 
enrolled, under the command of Captain William Mc- 
Laughlin, a veteran of the Mexican War, and on the 
next day they left for Washington. 

It is needless to recount the excitements of these early 
days, for they have been written up thousands of times. 



FIRST YEAR OF THE REBELLION. 1 35 

Neither is it nescessary to write up the history of the 
war, or much of my own personal history in connection 
with it, for the country is already surfeited with war his- 
tories and war memories. All I care to note is simply a 
brief outline of my own career, so as to indicate the road 
I traveled during my five years of service in the army, 
and relate a few of the experiences of events and of the 
people I encountered on the way. 

For over five months after the war commenced I had 
not the slightest idea of going into the service. I was so 
situated with my wife and three small children that it did 
not seem possible that I could leave them. In addition, 
my brother-in-law and my law partner went into the 
service with the understanding that I would remain at 
home and care for their business matters as well as my 
own. 

My brother-in-law, Robert H. Bentley (afterwards a 
brigadier-general), was the first volunteer from our 
county, and he was the only near relative we had in the 
city, so by common consent it was considered that I 
could be more useful at home than in the army, and I 
am not sure now but that was the case, if I had had the 
moral courage to sustain the position of a stay-at-home. 
During the spring and the summer I was an active quan- 
tity in recruiting, organizing and forwarding troops. I 
was especially in demand for making patriotic speeches 
at public meetings where recruits were to be solicited, 
and so life went on until about the middle of September, 
when Senator Sherman came home with an order from 
the secretary of war to recruit two regiments of infan- 
try, a squadron of cavalry and a battery of artillery. 

At this time I resided two doors west of Mr. Sher- 
man, and on his return he sent for me and presented 
his program. His plan was to authorize such persons as 
he should approve to drum up recruits, and whoever 



136 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

should secure a certain number should be captains, first 
lieutenants, and second lieutenants, according to the 
numbers enlisted. 

No commissions were to be issued until the whole force 
should be enlisted, except he must have immediately one 
commissioned first lieutenant to act as quartermaster, 
and he wanted me to take that position so as to be 
legally qualified to receive and issue the necessary equip- 
ments and supplies. I told him it was impossible for me 
to enter the service, and stated the reasons. He insisted, 
however, that I should at least take the position until 
the brigade was recruited and ordered to the front, and 
then, if I wished to, I could stay at home. He argued 
that I was largely and favorably known to the people of 
the counties from which recruits in the main must be 
had, and that my service would be of great value to the 
country as well as to him. He made a sufficient im- 
pression upon me to induce me to agree to talk the 
matter over with my wife and let him know in the morn- 
ing. The next day was Sunday, and on my way to 
church I stopped and told him I would go in and help 
him, at least until the brigade was recruited. 

It was agreed that my office should be recruit- 
ing headquarters, and Monday morning we started 
in. William Blair L,ord, one of the official stenogra- 
phers from Washington, came with Mr. Sherman and 
took charge of the correspondence. He was a man of 
ability, and ought to have had a larger place farther on 
than he received. In a few da}^s we had our program 
thoroughly advertised and our recruiting officers started. 

In the mean time I was appointed first lieutenant of 
the Sixty-fourth O. V. I., and went to Columbus and 
was mustered in. On my return we rented from the 
Johns estate, on the north line of the city, sixty acres 
of ground, which we named Camp Buckingham. We 



FIRST YEAR OF THE REBEUJON. 1 37 

also made requisitions for money and supplies, and at 
once went to work to put up the necessary buildings, and 
by the first of November we were ready to receive our 
recruits, and they were accordingly ordered into camp, 
where we also made our headquarters. 

Mr. Sherman was appointed colonel of the Sixty-fourth 
by the governor, and William Blair L,ord adjutant, and 
acted as such officers until the permanent officers were 
mustered in. 

During my five years of service the work I did at 
Camp Buckingham was the most perplexing. I was the 
quartermaster, commissary and ordnance officer of the 
entire force, and practically had to equip every man as 
an individual, and run my chances for securing proper 
vouchers from the officers to whom they were properly 
assigned. What saved me was the fact that I took 
from every man his individual receipt for what he got, 
and so when he had a captain properly commissioned I 
was able to consolidate my receipts, and secure a voucher 
that would pass my accounts at Washington. Knowing 
as I do now the risk I ran I would rather take the chances 
of a dozen battles than equip another brigade of similar 
size under like conditions. 

The brigade was fortunate in securing as military in- 
structor Major R. S. Granger, an officer of the regular 
army. Major Granger had been through the Mexican 
War, and was an accomplished officer and gentleman. 
He was in Texas at the commencement of the Rebellion, 
and was captured and paroled by General Twiggs, of the 
Confederate army, and as he could not be put upon ac- 
tive duty at the front during his parol, he was sent to 
Camp Buckingham as military instructor for the Sher- 
man Brigade. We were all great!}' attached to him, and 
from him we got our first ideas of army discipline. Major 
Granger afterward became major-general of volunteers, 



138 RFCOIXFCTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

and made an admirable record. From Major Granger I 
got my first intelligent ideas in regard to my duties, and 
he helped me in many ways. 

Later on, two other West Point graduates came to us, 
one of whom, Lieutenant Forsyth, was made colonel of 
the sixty-fourth and Lieutenant Harker of the Sixty-fifth. 
Forsyth was the older of the two, and had been in the 
regular service long enough to be out of sympathy with 
volunteers, and was never able to make himself popular 
with the regiment, and remained with it only a few 
months. He was a good soldier, however, and at the 
close of the war was chief of staff for General Sheridan. 

Harker was just out of West Point and was young 
enough to adapt himself to volunteers, and soon became 
the idol of his regiment. Both of these officers were 
very friendly to me, and aided me in every way possible, 
and I hold them in grateful remembrance. Harker be- 
came a brigadier-general and was killed in battle. 

The battery also had the advantage of an officer trained 
in the regular service, in the person of Captain Bradley, 
who remained in command during its entire service. 
Captain Bradley had been a sergeant in a regular army 
battery, and was a brave and competent officer. 

To volunteers, generally, West Point officers were very 
objectionable during the first year of the war, and as 
regimental officers they were rarely acceptable at any 
time, but to me the regular army officers were always de- 
sirable, and I do not remember that I ever had the 
slightest friction with any one of them. They knew what 
they wanted, and they did not require of a subordinate 
what was impossible for him to do, and as I made it my 
business to obey orders and do my duty, as far as I was 
able, I got along with them smoothly, and to our mutual 
satisfaction. 

It was the intention of Senator Sherman to ask of the 



FIRST YEAR OF THF, REBELLION. 139 

secretary of war a regular army quartermaster and a 
commissary for permanent assignment to the Sherman 
Brigade, and as the organization approached completion 
he went to Washington with a view, among other mat- 
ters, to secure such officers. The night before he started, 
however, as I learned afterwards, Major Granger and 
Major Mclaughlin, who commanded the squadron, called 
upon the senator at his hotel and insisted that a volunteer 
officer would be more acceptable to the rank and file of 
the force, and suggested lieutenant Brinkerhoff , as they 
all knew him, and would be satisfied. The result was I 
received from President Lincoln a commission as captain 
and assistant quartermaster of the United States army, 
without the slightest solicitation on my part. My com- 
mission as captain and assistant quartermaster bore date 
November 4, 1861. 

By this time I had made up my mind to enter the 
service for the war, although I did not formally an- 
nounce my acceptance of my commission until a month 
later. My father was a quartermaster in the war of 
181 2, and it seemed a kind of family inheritance that I 
should receive an unsought commission as quartermaster 
in the War of the Rebellion. At any rate so it came 
about, and my five years of service in the army began. 

About the middle of December the brigade was ordered 
to proceed to Bardstown, Kentucky, which was then the 
receiving camp for raw troops from the North, and I 
was ordered to proceed to Cincinnati and make the 
necessary arrangements for transportation by rail to that 
point, and thence by river to Iyouisville. At Louisville 
I was to report for further orders to Colonel Swords at 
the army headquarters, where he was chief quarter- 
master. In this way I was able to get away quietly and 
escape the parades and leavetakings of a brigade de- 
parture. 



140 RECOLLECTIONS OP A LIFETIME. 

At Cincinnati I arranged with Captain Dickenson, the 
transportation quartermaster there, for everything neces- 
sary for the transfer of the brigade from Mansfield to 
Louisville, and at Louisville I arranged for a camping 
ground preparatory for the overland march to Bards- 
town. Up to this time I supposed I was to be per- 
manently with the Sherman Brigade, and this was my 
desire, as well as my expectation, but when I reported 
at headquarters in Louisville I was quickly undeceived 
by receiving an order to report to the commanding 
officer at Bardstown as post quartermaster, and this 
abruptly ended m} 7 connection with the Sherman Brigade. 
In fact my appointment as captain and assistant quarter- 
master carried me into the quartermaster's department 
of the staff corps of the army and severed at once my 
regimental connections. 

The staff corps of the army is divided into various de- 
partments; among which are the ordnance, quarter- 
masters, subsistence, medical and pay departments. The 
engineer corps and topographical engineers also belong 
to the staff corps. Each of these departments has its 
own chief with headquarters at Washington City. The 
head of the quartermaster's department during the war 
and for many years after was that accomplished soldier 
and gentleman General Montgomery C. Meigs. 

The quartermaster's department provide the quarters 
and transportation of the army, except that, when prac- 
ticable, wagons and their equipments are provided by the 
ordnance department; storage and transportation for all 
army supplies; army clothing; camp and garrison equip- 
age; cavalry and artillery horses; fuel; forage; straw 
and stationery. The incidental expenses of the army 
(also paid through the quartermaster's department) in- 
cluded the per diem to extra duty men; the expenses of 
courts martial; of the pursuit and apprehension of de- 



FIRST YEAR OF THF, RF,BF,UJON. 141 

serters; of the burial of officers and soldiers; of hired es- 
corts; of expresses and interpreters, spies and guides; of 
veterinary surgeons and medicine for horses; and supplying 
posts with water; and, generally, the proper and au- 
thorized expenses for the movements and operations of 
an army not expressly assigned to any other department. 
In short, the duties of the quartermaster's department are 
the most varied, and the most intricate, and the most re- 
sponsible of any of the staff departments. 

At Camp Buckingham, however, I was not only 
quartermaster, but I was also the ordnance officer and 
commissary for the brigade. That I came out alive, and 
financially solvent is still a matter of wonderment to me, 
and a cause for thankfulness. However, here I was in 
Louisville, with orders to report to the commanding of- 
ficer at Bardstown, a village forty miles to the southeast. 
I found in command General Ward, a Kentucky briga- 
dier, who received me very kindly, but he was relieved a 
few days later by Colonel Wm. H. L,ytle, of the Tenth 
Ohio Volunteers, and in a few weeks he also was relieved 
by General Thomas J. Wood. With General Ward my 
acquaintance was so brief that I did not form even an 
impression of his character or abilities, but with L,ytle it 
was different. He was a scholar and a gentleman, and 
as brave and chivalrous a soldier as ever went into battle. 
We became close friends, and I was greatly attached to 
him. He was killed at Chickamauga. 

After a few weeks, General L,ytle was relieved by Gen- 
eral Thomas J. Wood, afterwards a major-general of 
volunteers, who was a West Point regular army officer 
of experience, and for the first time I came under the im- 
mediate command of a thoroughly-trained military man 
who knew what he wanted, and knew when he got it. 
General Wood, like most regular army officers early in 
the war, had a contempt for volunteers, and very nat- 



142 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

urally he was a terror to volunteer officers. L,ater on 
when he came into daily contact with the volunteer regi- 
ments, he discovered their superiority, and adjusted him- 
self to their needs and became popular with them, but at 
Bardstown there was constant friction between them. To 
me, however, General Wood was always kind and courte- 
ous, and from that day to this we have always been 
friends, and he still calls me Roeliff, although in later 
years we do not often meet. 

At Bardstown, we had a transient visit from General 
George H. Thomas, and I had the pleasure of an interview 
with this famous soldier, and again had an opportunity 
of testing the kindly appreciation of a regular army of- 
ficer. It was about the middle of February, 1862. Gen- 
eral Thomas had fought the battle of Mill Springs in 
January, and with his division had been ordered to move 
by way of Bardstown and New Haven, to Munfordsville, 
to take part in the contemplated operations against 
Bowling Green. 

The first I heard of this movement was the appear- 
ance at my office of a staff office, who reported himself 
as representing General Thomas, and demanded a large 
amount of forage for his command. I told him he could 
have it by making requisition in proper form and hav- 
ing it approved by General Wood. At this he flew into 
a rage, and claimed that General Thomas was the rank- 
ing officer and that he would have nothing to do with 
General Wood. To this I replied by refusing to recog- 
nize General Thomas or any of his underlings as having 
authority over me. The result was, after some hard 
swearing, he went to General Wood and got his approval 
and I arranged to let him have the forage for Thomas' 
command. 

Soon after the arrival of Thomas and his staff, I was 
sent for, and at General Wood's headquarters was intro- 



FRST YEAR OF THE REBEXUON. 1 43 

duced to General Thomas. He referred to the racket I 
had made with his staff officer, and I told him what had 
occurred. When I finished, he said, you were right, sir, 
entirely so. My division is in transit, and I am the 
guest and not the commander of General Wood or his 
subordinates. General Thomas, in appearance, was an 
ideal soldier, and impressed me as resembling Washing- 
ton more than any other man I have ever seen. 

Bards town, during my time there, was a receiving 
camp, to which new regiments from the North were 
sent to be put into shape, and were then assigned to 
some brigade and sent forward to the front. The winter 
of 1 86 1-2, in Kentucky, was very disagreeable after the 
Christmas holidays. The rain was almost continuous, and 
a fair day was a rare exception. The roads off of the 
macadamized pike were almost impassable, and I often 
sent my trains from ten to twenty miles on the pike for 
forage, when, except for the impassable roads, I could 
have found abundance in three or four miles. 

The raw troop, unaccustomed to the exposure of camp 
life, suffered greatly from sickness and many died. The 
measles broke out and almost decimated some regiments, 
and after awhile the small-pox made its appearance and 
made some headway, so upon the whole the winter at 
Bardstown was one of great discomfort and no glory. 

Among the few pleasurable incidents I remember of 
my winter in Bardstown was the generosity and Christian 
courtesy of the Catholic authorities at St. Joseph's Col- 
lege, the famous school of the Jesuit fathers. Of course 
the school was closed, but the faculty consisting of twelve 
or fifteen priests, with Father Verdon at their head, re- 
mained in charge, and their daily attentions to sick 
soldiers were unremitting, and when the small-pox ap- 
peared, they never quailed for an instant, whilst the 
Protestant clergy disappeared. 



144 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

One day I received a telegram from the front to make 
hospital arrangements for six hundred sick and wounded 
soldiers, who would be forwarded in a few days. The 
only possible way for me to comply with this order was 
to take possession of the buildings of St. Joseph's Col- 
lege. I sent for Father Verdon and showed him my 
telegram, and told him what must be done. He at once 
assented to the necessities of the situation, and I ar- 
ranged to make matters as easy as I could for him. I 
told him to concentrate his valuables in the stone library 
building and I would protect it with a guard. I told him 
also we would need all the bedding and especially the 
mattresses, and that I would pay him what they were 
worth or replace them. They also agreed to furnish milk 
from their farm. The result was we had a well equipped 
hospital very quickly, together with the constant minis- 
trations of the fathers and the sisters of charity. 

When I was ordered to Nashville later on, I requested 
Father Verdon to present his bill for property taken. He 
simply replied: "We want nothing. Ministrations of 
mercy in times like these should be without money and 
without price." From that time to this, I have always 
had a kindly feeling for our Catholic brethren. If we, as 
Protestants, would imitate their virtues more and criti- 
cize their failings less, it would be better for us all. 
Charity, and not censure, is what is needed from Pro- 
testants and Catholics alike, for "we are all miserable 
sinners." 

The movements of the Union army in Kentucky and 
Tennessee were eventful in victories over the enemy at 
Mill Springs, Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, which led 
to the occupation of Nashville early in March. Fort 
Donelson was named after my old friend, General Don- 
elson, who was then adjutant-general of the State of 
Tennessee. 



FIRST YKAR OF THE REBELLION. 1 45 

A few days after the occupancy of Nashville, I was 
ordered to Nashville, and upon my arrival there was 
placed in charge of transportation, land and river. 
The rebels had destroyed the railroad bridge over the 
Cumberland river at Nashville, and as this left the depot 
buildings of the L,ouisville and Nashville Railroad unoc- 
cupied, they were assigned to me for offices and storage. 
My department at once assumed large proportions. All 
transport steamers came and went under my orders. All 
forage, horses, mules, and the thousand and one articles 
known as quartermaster's stores, were drawn from my 
department. The city transportation, comprising one 
hundred wagons, was under my direction. Of course, 
all this required a small army of employes, who were 
divided and subdivided so that everything could be han- 
dled with celerity and efficiency. 

In a few days, order came out of chaos, and the differ- 
ent branches of my department performed their work 
fairly well, except the train department for the supply of 
the outlying posts on the various pike roads which ran 
out of Nashville like the spokes of a wagon wheel. The 
trouble was in finding a man of sufficient executive 
ability to handle it without constant supervision. I tele- 
graphed to Cincinnati for the best man in sight, and the 
man who responded had been the manager of extensive 
stage lines for many years, but he failed in a week. I 
tried another and another, but finally I developed a born 
commander out of one of my train masters, who came 
into my service in Kentucky, by the name of Curtis, and 
from that time on I had no trouble with my trains. I 
was in Nashville from the early part of March until after 
the battle of Shiloh, in April, but I was under such a 
constant pressure of business in my department that I 
saw but little of the town. 
10 



146 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Upon my arrival, Colonel Stanley Matthews (after- 
wards a judge of the United States Supreme Court), who 
was then provost marshal of the city, assigned me for 
the quarters of myself and staff the parsonage of the 
Second Presbyterian Church, which was only a short 
walk from the depot, so that we had a good place to 
sleep. I had no time to look up old friends and saw but 
few, as those I had known a dozen years before were 
mostly in the rebel army. 

I did get away one Sunday afternoon, and with two or 
three army officers rode out to the Hermitage. Mr. 
Jackson was away, the boys were in the rebel army, and 
Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Adams declined to see me when 
I sent in my card. The slaves on the plantation, how- 
ever, gave me an ovation and told me the history of the 
family. Massa Andrew, they said, was loyal, but 
"Missus," as Billy expressed it, "was pizen." I was 
sorry the ladies refused to see me, as I wanted to do 
them good and not evil. As family quarrels are the 
most bitter, so civil wars are the most dreadful, and I 
never want to see another. 

Weeks of turmoil came and went, and then came the 
battle of Shiloh; and after that, late in April, I received 
by telegraph an order from General Buell to take the 
fastest steamer at my command and bring to Pittsburgh 
Landing, as quick as possible, a battery of six thirty- 
pound Parrot siege guns, and report to him for orders. 
Within a few hours I was on my way down the Cumber- 
land. The only stop we made was at Paducah, to take 
in coal, and then we pushed on up the Tennessee to Pitts- 
burgh Landing. On arriving there, I was directed to go 
on up the river to Hamburg Landing. From that point 
I rode to Buell' s headquarters, fifteen miles away, in 
the line of the Army of the Ohio, in front of Corinth, 



FIRST YEAR OF THF RKBFJJJON. 1 47 

where our forces were besieging Beauregard's army of 
rebels. 

It was a warm, dusty day, and, as I approached the 
front, I saw but little evidence of the presence of a great 
army, except the long trains of transport wagons plod- 
ding along through the dust or bumping over the cordu- 
roy roads. I found General Buell's headquarters in a 
quiet shady grove, and at once reported progress. He 
called his chief of artillery, and told him to return with 
me to the river and receive the siege guns I had in charge, 
and arrange for their removal to the front. He ordered 
my horse to be cared for and invited me to dinner. After 
dinner I received an order placing me in charge of the 
field transportation of the Army of the Ohio. An hour 
after dinner I returned to the river with the artillery 
officer, and the next day unloaded my guns and dismissed 
the steamer. 

After this, for some time, I made my headquarters 
upon the Shiloh battle grounds, near Shiloh Church, 
which was near the center of one of the greatest and 
bloodiest conflicts of the war. To see the acres of chap- 
parel mown off by bullets as clean as grass upon a 
meadow, one could only wonder that any one could have 
been there and come out alive. 

The month of May, 1862, to soldiers engaged in the 
siege of Corinth, is not a pleasant memory. The army 
at the front, by regular siege operations, day by day, 
slowly advanced upon the enemy. Every day there was 
more or less skirmishing with its irregular rattle of mus- 
ketry, and the occasional booming of cannon, but there 
were no battles, and but little glory to anybody. Death, 
however, did not need battles to find victims, for the pes- 
tiferous swamps exhaled malarial and typhoid fevers on 
every hand, and the hospitals were full of sick and dying 
men. My department suffered heavify, and almost one- 



148 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

half of my men were on the sick list, so that with my de- 
pleted trains it was a constant pressure to transport the 
necessary supplies to the front. 

About the only recollection of that period that I can 
now recall was the collapse of the siege, by the evacua- 
tion of Corinth on the 3d of June. Prior to the battle 
of Shiloh, our armies in Kentucky and Tennessee had 
been very careful in their treatment of the natives. 
What we took we paid for, and, if a slave came into our 
camps to help us, he was returned to his master. After 
Shiloh, however, our soldiers began to tire of that kind 
of business, and the blue coats did a deal of thinking, 
and the more they thought the madder they got, and by 
the time we reached Corinth the policy of using gloves 
in the treatment of rebels lost favor, although as yet 
there was no general idea of freeing slaves except those 
of rebel masters. 

My own thinking had brought me further on, so that 
I began to see that we could not win until we proclaimed 
' 'liberty to the captives. ' ' 

My condition of mind at that time is pretty fully ex- 
pressed in a letter written in my tent near Shiloh Church, 
May 26, 1862, which was published in the "New York 
Independent" of June 12th, and which the editor pub- 
lished with a mild apalogy for its radicalism. As I read 
it now in the light of subsequent events, I wonder at 
its prophetic truthfulness. It was a long letter, in which 
I discussed existing conditions, and then proposed a pol- 
icy for the future, and suggested gradual emancipation, 
commencing with the slaves of rebel masters, and closed 
as follows: 

"Slavery has shown itself a Upas tree, in whose shadow the 
Republic cannot live. It is said that it will not do to fell the tree 
at once, for it may crush us in its fall. What shall we do ? Allow 
me, as an individual, to suggest a policy. In the first place, let us 



FIRST YFAR OF THE) REBELLION. 149 

girdle the tree by excluding slavery from all territories, present and 
prospective; secondly, let us confiscate the lands and free the slaves 
of rebel masters, which will cut off the tap root, and then the 
leaves will begin to wither. 

''But what shall we do with the manumitted slaves? I see but 
one way. We cannot remove them from the continent, and it is 
not desirable if we could. We need their labor, and they need 
the protecting power of our free institutions. The negro alone can 
cultivate the rice swamps of the Corolinas and the cotton lands of 
the Gulf states: why not give them to him? A confiscation bill 
will forfeit these lands to the government. What is to prevent the 
government from leasing them to the freed slaves, with the privi- 
lege of a fee-simple upon the payment of a fair valuation ?' ' 

"If our government acts promptly and fearlessly, the cloud 
which now hangs over the nation will soon begin to lift; if, on the 
other hand, no action is taken, the clouds of the future will be 
darker than those of the past. ' ' 

After the evacuation of Corinth the Army of the 
Ohio was ordered to Kastport, Mississippi, and thence to 
Huntsville, Alabama, and I was ordered to follow with 
my trains, which I did, and in a few days found myself 
at Eastport, sick and laid up for repairs on a transport 
steamer. Our headquarters surgeon came along and 
looked me over, with the comforting verdict that I must 
get out of that country quick or die; and so in a day or 
two I received an order to turn over my trains to a re- 
lieving officer, and a leave of absence for thirty days to 
go home. 

In a day or two later I was on my way down the river, 
and I have never seen that region since, and never want 
to see it again. The Tennessee river, from Eastport to 
its mouth, is "anathema maranatha" so far as I am con- 
cerned. I shall never forget the satisfaction, the inspira- 
tion, the blessedness of that June morning when our 
steamer swung out from the turbid waters of the Ten- 
nessee into the lake-like expanse of the beautiful Ohio. 

General Wm. H. Gibson, of Ohio, who like myself 



150 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

was an invalid seeking health on a thirty days' leave, 
sat with me at the steamer's bow, and we thanked God 
that the Tennessee river and its unpleasant memories 
were behind us, and that our Ohio homes were not far 
off. At Iyouisville I stopped a day to close up some army 
matters, and then by rail I soon reached home. 

In a few days the doctor advised a trip to the upper 
lakes as a panacea for my malarial troubles, and so with 
my wife and son I went to Cleveland and took passage 
on the steamer Planet for Sault Ste. Marie. On the 
boat we found Senator Allen G. Thurman and family, 
consisting of Mrs. Thurman and three children, one son 
and two daughters, and, as they were destined for the 
same port, we made up a party and kept together on the 
trip and at the Sault. We left late in the afternoon. 
The lake was as smooth as glass, and the evening passed 
very pleasantly. 

Shortly after we retired, probably about eleven o'clock, 
the steamer came to a sudden halt with a tremendous 
crash. I opened the door of the stateroom, and stepped 
out to the outer guard and saw that we had run into a 
schooner loaded with lumber. As the schooner swung 
out into the darkness, Judge Thurman and I went out 
to see the extent of the damage; we found the cut- water 
of the steamer broken off, and the water pouring through 
into the steamer like a river, and it looked as if nothing 
could prevent her from going to the bottom. There 
were two life boats, and the crew were rushing for 
them, but we took possession of one, and the judge had 
a revolver, and said he would take care of it if I would 
get the women and children. This I did, and arranged 
the life preservers for immediate use. 

By this time the officers of the boat managed to estab- 
lish discipline among the men and got them to work. 
When the boat came to a full stop, it was found that the 



FIRST YEAR OF THE RKBEUJON. 151 

big hole was only a foot or so under the water, so that 
with the aid of the pumps, and by the use of the bedding 
and carpets the water was excluded sufficiently to pro- 
ceed; and by morning we reached Detroit. 

At Detroit, we were transported to an excursion 
steamer, and in due time, without any other accidents, 
we reached the Sault and took up our quarters at one of 
the hotels. Here we remained for a week ; I got no bet- 
ter, but rather worse, and concluded to return to Cleve- 
land and try the Sanitarium, as Dr. Seeley's cure was 
then called. 

Here I remained without any large improvement, and 
it became evident that I could not yet return to the front, 
and so I sent in an application direct to the war office 
with Senator Wade's indorsement, and stated that the 
physicians gave me no assurance that I would be able to 
risk a southern climate for some months to come, but I 
thought if I could have an assignment to some light duty 
north of the Ohio river, anywhere between the Atlantic 
and Pacific oceans, that I believed I would be able to 
discharge it. In reply I received an order to report to 
the officer in command at Boston, Massachusetts. 



152 RF,COU<FCTlONS OF A UFF/TIMB. 



CHAPTER XII. 

New England Experiences. 

Arrival in Boston — A week at Nahant — Ordered to Maine as chief 
quartermaster — Yankee dialects — Headquarters at Augusta — 
Duties in Maine — First meeting with James G. Blaine — Intro- 
duction to Maine audience — Appreciation by the people of 
Maine — Maine politics — Friends in Maine — Trip to Moosehead 
Lake — Incident with John L. Stevens — A kind remembrance. 

New England was practically a terre incognito to me, 
as I had never been there except during the brief trip 
to Northampton I have heretofore referred to, and the 
prejudices I had inherited from my Dutch ancestry did 
not prepossess me in favor of Yankeedom, so that I went 
to Boston expecting to find an uncongenial environment. 
However, I obeyed orders and, under the care of my 
chief clerk, I wended my way towards Boston, and upon 
arrival reported myself at headquarters, then in charge 
of Colonel McKeim as chief quartermaster. The colonel 
looked me over, and I suppose saw that I was physically 
played out, and needed medical treatment rather than 
work. At any rate he said he was not ready yet to 
make an assignment to me, but recommended that I 
should go out to Nahant for a few days' rest, and he 
would notify me when he wanted me. Nahant was then 
a quiet sea beach a short ride from Boston, and so I went 
there, and the first whif of the salt sea air seemed to re- 
vive me, and I improved rapidly. 

In a few days I was assigned as chief quartermaster 
for the State of Maine with headquarters at Augusta. 
By this time I was much improved in health, and in a 



NEW ENGLAND EXPERIENCES. 153 

few weeks I was entirely restored. Since then I have 
been in all the New England states, more or less, but 
Maine of all of them is the Yankiest of the Yankees. 
There were then but very few foreigners, and I suppose 
the Maine people as a whole are still, as a race, the most 
typical Americans we have in the Union, outside of the 
Indians. 

A Maine Yankee in his physical characteristics and es- 
pecially in his speech is easily distinguishable from other 
New England Yankees. I remember a few years ago, at 
the Antlers Hotel at Colorado Springs, at the base of the 
Rocky Mountains, after listening to the welcome of the 
landlord, asking him what part of Maine he came from, 
he answered me Belfast; but how in the world do you 
know I came from Maine? he inquired. "Thy speech 
betrayeth thee," I replied. 

The Maine Yankees, as a whole, are the most intel- 
ligent people I have ever met. I have spoken to audi- 
ences in almost every town in the Kennebeck Valley, 
from Portland to Skowhegan, and outside of college 
towns I have never seen their equal in other states. I 
mentioned this fact to Vice-President Ham|lin once, and 
he said he had been all over New England, and that I 
was entirely right in my conclusions, and that he did not 
believe that the people of the Kennebeck Valley, as a 
whole, had their equal elsewhere in the whole world. 

When I arrived at Augusta I did not have an acquaint- 
ance in the state, but in accordance with my instruc- 
tions I reported to the governor, and he introduced me 
to Adjutant-General Hodson and other state officers. 

The rebel cruisers had been hovering about the coast 
and had burned some fishing vessels, and the state had 
mustered in some troops as coast guards, and the general 
government had agreed to build quarters for them and 
to fortify strategic points. In accordance with this 



154 RECOLLECTIONS OE A LIFETIME. 

arrangement earthworks were erected at Kittery on the 
New Hampshire line, at the mouth of the Kennebec, 
at Castine, Machias Port, and in Passamaquoddy Bay on 
Treats Island, on the New Brunswick line, and a part of 
my work was to put up barracks at each of these points. 
Another and larger duty was to put up barracks for the 
nine regiments required by the draft then about to be 
enforced. 

These regiments were to be encamped and organized 
at Portland, Augusta and Bangor, three regiments at 
each place, and in addition I was to equip them with 
clothing, quartermaster's stores, horses, etc. One of the 
regiments was the Second Cavalry, for which I purchased 
horses at Augusta. I also furnished transportation for 
all drafted men, and for this purpose I chartered, more 
or less, all lines of railroads, steamboats and stages in 
the state, so that by the necessities of my position and 
duties, I speedily came into contact with the people of 
the state throughout its entire area. As the draft went 
on and troops came into camp and regiments were or- 
ganized, of course my acquaintance with the people of the 
state enlarged, and I soon became interested in its politics 
and politicians. 

Occasionally I attended political meetings, and once or 
twice was called out to speak in a small way, and I sup- 
pose must have attracted some little attention, but not 
until spring of 1863 did I get into any special prominence, 
and that was entirely unsought. 

The Maine regiments at the front had suffered terribly, 
and in Augusta there was mourning in almost every 
family, and as the draft for more soldiers went on, a 
good deal of discontent was manifested, and it was con- 
sidered desirable to hold public meetings to keep up the 
patriotism of the people. Such a meeting was called at 



NEW ENGLAND EXPERIENCES. 1 55 

Augusta to be addressed by Honorable James G. Blaine 
immediately after adjournment of congress. 

Mr. Blaine came home a day or two before the meet- 
ing, and I met him for the first time. The day before 
the meeting, some of the managers called at my office 
and requested that I would say something at the meet- 
ing, and I promised to do so to the extent of ten min- 
ute's exhortation at the close. It was a magnificent 
audience, and Meonian Hall was packed with the elite 
of the city, both men and women. 

Mr. Blaine was introduced and made a very brief ad- 
dress, not more than twenty or thirty minutes long, and 
then closed by saying, "You people of Augusta have 
heard me so often, that you know what I would say if I 
should talk to you longer, and I am sure you would pre- 
fer to hear one who has just come up from the front, 
and from the heart of rebeldom, and, therefore, I have 
the pleasure of introducing to you Captain Brinkerhoff 
of the United States army." This, of course, was all 
very generous in Mr. Blaine, but it was tough on me, for 
I was unprepared for anything beyond a ten minutes 
talk. However, I was full of the subject, and such a 
subject, and such an occasion, and such an audience, 
rarely come together. At any rate I started in, and in 
five minutes I lost all sense of time and everything else 
but the great theme. The tide of sentiment, enthusiasm, 
and patriotism rose like the tides of the ocean, and at 
the close the great audience rose to their feet and hur- 
rahed as if they would raise the roof off the building. 
I looked at my watch and found that I had talked an 
hour and a quarter. 

Of course it was the time and the circumstances, more 
than the oratory, that caused all this uproar, but, never- 
theless, it gave me a reputation that brought demand in 
a week for more speeches than I could fill in a month. 



I56 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

The result was I could not well avoid accepting some of 
these invitations, and during the spring and summer I 
met audiences in all the leading cities of the state, and 
was known about as well as anyone in the state. 

I became greatly attached to the people of Maine, and 
I think they were very friendly to me, and when the war 
was over it was hard work for me to refuse to become a citi- 
zen of the state and spend my life among its people. If I 
had been dominated by political ambition, doubtless I 
should have been settled in Maine, but politics as a pro- 
fession have never had any large attractions, and politics 
as an amusement I could not afford, and so in the end I 
came back to my Ohio home, and upon the whole, I have 
no reason to doubt the wisdom of having done so. I re- 
mained in Maine two full years, and they were among 
the most active and useful years of my army life, as I 
was able to serve the government in many important 
ways outside of my official duties, for which I received 
high commendation from the war office at Washington. 
During the winters of 1862 and 1863 my wife and chil- 
dren were with me at Augusta, and with pleasant sur- 
roundings and troops of friends we enjoyed our life in 
Maine very much indeed. 

In 1868, during the Presidential campaign, at the re- 
quest of Mr. Blaine, I spent a month in Maine, upon the 
stump, and spoke in almost every town and city in the 
Kennebec Valley; speaking every day, as I did, except 
Sundays, and usually twice a day, and met everywhere 
the same cordiality I had experienced in former years. 
It is now more than twenty years since I have visited 
the state, and I presume I would now be substantially a 
stranger in a strange land, but still I shall remember 
the state with pleasure as long as I live. 

When I left the State of Maine, there were but few 
men of my age in it who had a larger or more favorable 



NEW ENGLAND EXPERIENCES. 1 57 

acquaintance. In fact, I knew almost everybody worth 
knowing, and of those I remember with special pleas- 
ure are the governors under whom I served. The first 
was Israel Washburn, one of the famous Washburn 
brothers. The second was Abner Coburn, who boarded 
at the same hotel with me, and whom I visited after the 
war at his home in Skowhegan. L,astly, Samuel Coney, 
of Augusta, who was governor when I left the state, 
and who subsequently visited me in Ohio with his wife. 
My official position brought me into close relations 
with all three of them, and they were very superior men. 
Of course, I knew all other state officers on duty at the 
capitol, and nearly all the members of the state legislature. 
As chief quartermaster of the state, during the draft, 
I had business relations with every county, and almost 
every town, and so I was brought into contact and ac- 
quaintance with leading men, in the various avocations 
of life all over the state, and when I left I really felt more 
at home in Maine than I did in Ohio. 

Among my Maine friends, whom I valued very highly, 
and with whom I was in very close relations, was John 
L,. Stevens, who had been in the state legislature, and 
was then the owner and editor of the * 'Kennebec Jour- 
nal. ' ' Subsequently, he was United States Minister, suc- 
cessively, at Central America, Stockholm, Sweden, and the 
Hawaian Islands. With him I kept up a correspondence 
until he died. He was an able man, and I valued his 
friendship highly. He often referred to an incident 
which came very near a tragic ending of the careers of 
both of us. 

Mr. Stevens had invited me to go with him on a fish- 
ing excursion to Moosehead I^ake, some eighty or ninety 
miles north of Augusta, and so, in September, 1863, we 
started. The first day we went as far as Skowhegan, 
and thence, the next morning, we started northward, and 



I58 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

were soon in the pine forests, which then extended to the 
lake and beyond the Canada line. In this forest, during 
the day, about the only house we found was a stage sta- 
tion, where we stopped for dinner. 

Towards evening it began to rain, and about dark we 
came to a place a few miles from the lake, where the road 
forked, and here Mr. Stevens was in doubt which way to 
go, but finally concluded to go to the left. The rain fell 
in torrents, and it soon became so dark that we could 
scarcely see the horse. Finally the horse stopped. Mr. 
Stevens reached for the whip, but I cautioned him not 
to use it, as a horse in the dark knew more than any 
driver, and proposed that I should get out and recon- 
noiter. 

I got out carefully, and with one hand upon the car- 
riage I felt about with my foot and found that we were 
on the edge of a precipice of some kind, and further ex- 
ploration led me to take the horse by the bridle, and lead 
him back into the roadway through the forest, and then 
following the road I led him on until we saw a light in 
the distance. In short, we found a cabin, and learned 
that we had taken the wrong way, and must remain until 
morning. 

In the morning, on our return, we found the place 
where our horse halted the night before was on the edge 
of a precipice with a sheer descent upon jagged granite 
rocks of nearly fifty feet, and a step forward would have 
been certain death for both of us. The road ran over 
bare rocks that broadened for a hundred feet or more to 
the verge of the gorge, so that the horse easily went 
astray, but he discovered his mistake in time to halt, and 
we were saved to tell the story. 

When we reached the forks of the road we went to the 
right and were soon at the foot of the lake, where we 
took the little steamer for Mount Kinneo, twenty miles 



NEW ENGLAND EXPERIENCES. 1 59 

away, and half way up on the western shore. Here was 
a good hotel, and here we had the finest trout fishing 
in America for about ten days. At that time the lake 
was surrounded by great forests, and there were only 
two or three houses on its shores. A five-pound brook 
trout was something I had never heard of before, but I 
saw one caught of that size, and every day we landed 
trout from one to three pounds in weight. 

After the war, as I have already stated, upon invita- 
tion from Mr. Blaine, I returned to Maine, in the Grant 
campaign, and for thirty days, met the people every day, 
except Sundays, in the afternoons and evenings, in the 
Kennebec Valle}^ from Portland to Skowhegan and be- 
yond. Part of this time Mr. Blaine was with me, but 
for the most Mr. Stevens and I were together, and finer 
audiences I never met elsewhere. 

After I left my post in Maine, in August, 1864, Mr. 
Stevens sent me the ''Kennebec Journal," with the fol- 
lowing kind remembrance: 

"A Vai,uabi,e Officer. — Captain R. Brinkerhoff, volunteer 
United States quartermaster, who has been on duty in this state, 
between two and three years, has been assigned to duty in the 
quartermaster's department of Western Pennsylvania, with office at 
Pittsburgh. It will be very difficult for the government to make 
good the place of a public agent who has discharged his duties with 
such signal ability and fidelity. Captain Brinkerhoff endeared 
himself to a large number of citizens of Maine, as a gentleman and 
an officer, in a very marked degree. Courteous, firm, blending 
dignity with simplicity, with none of the cockade ostentation which 
too often mars the bearing of military officers, he has inspired the 
confidence and esteem of a large number of persons who have had 
occasion to transact business with his department. His fidelity to 
the government has not been merely of an official kind, but his 
earnest loyalty has led him to exert his entire personal influence 
and energies to sustain the loyal cause. His heart, voice and pen 
have been devoted to the country. A large number of people have 
listened to his eloquent appeals in behalf of the Union. Such an 



l6o RECOIJyECTlONS OF A LIFETIME. 

officer deserves the attention of the government, and promotion to 
higher trusts. 

"The citizens of Augusta, among whom Captain Brinkerhoff has 
mingled for several years, deeply regret he is to leave them, and 
will long remember him as one in a signal degree possessing the 
head and heart which make the true man and the sincere patriot. ' ' 



PITTSBURGH AND WASHINGTON. l6l 



CHAPTER XIII. 
Pittsburgh and Washington. 

Duties at Pittsburgh — Ordered to Washington — Duties of post 
quartermaster — Write and publish a book— End of the rebel- 
lion — Jollifications at Washington — Death of the President — 
Scenes at Ford's theater — Audience paralyzed — Booth's motives 
—Death of Booth. 

In August, 1864, in compliance with my own request 
for an assignment nearer home, I was ordered to Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania, and early in September reported 
to Colonel Cross at that place, and was placed in charge 
of transportation. L,arge numbers of troops were being 
transferred from the army of the Potomac to Grant's 
army, in Tennessee, and they all passed through my 
department at Pittsburgh, and I had the settlement and 
payment of all bills. This made me a busy winter, but 
the pressure for transportation fell off in January, and in 
February, very unexpectedly, I was ordered to Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

I had been accumulating material for a year or two 
with a view to publishing a book to be entitled the 
"Volunteer Quartermaster," and at Pittsburgh I put it 
into shape, and had secured a publisher in New York, 
but there were some items of information that I could 
only obtain at Washington, and I had suggested to 
General Moorhead, the member of congress from Pitts- 
burgh, that an assignment to Washington for a short 
time would be desirable. However, I did not press it, 
and when I received such an assignment it was really 
a surprise. I learned afterwards that General Morris 



1 62 RECOU.KCTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Miller, who had been in charge of the disbursing depart- 
ment of the quartermaster general's office, known as the 
post quartermaster's office, for political reasons, had 
been removed, and whilst a proper successor was being 
considered, the office was left in charge of Captain 
Thayer, an assistant quartermaster. The fact that I 
had had experience in every branch of the quarter- 
master's department, I presume, secured my selection; 
at any rate I was ordered to relieve Captain Thayer, and 
in due time I was post quartermaster at Washington, 
D. C. , which was probably the oldest disbursing office in 
the quartermaster's department. 

The department I found fairly well organized, but it 
was much behind in business, and my first effort was to 
get matters so arranged as to secure greater celerity and 
efficiency. This I accomplished without any material 
increase of force, by working extra hours, so that in a 
few weeks I had the department squarely up to time, and 
running like a clock. My office was on G street, num- 
ber 232, a short walk from the war office. The dis- 
bursements of the office were quite heavy, and if I did 
not have a hundred thousand dollars to check against I 
felt poor, and I began to make estimates for more money. 
In addition to disbursements, all blanks for the settle- 
ment of accounts in the different branches of the service 
all over the United States were furnished by my office. 
In fact there was no disbursing office in the country 
which required a larger experience or a wider knowledge 
of law and practice, and my experience of three years 
came into play in every direction. 

The position also enabled me to make my book much 
more complete, as the quartermaster general (Major Gen- 
eral Meigs) and the second comptroller of the treasury 
(Mr. Broadhead) took an interest in helping me. My 



PITTSBURGH AND WASHINGTON. 1 63 

book cost a world of work, but when it was completed it 
was by all odds the most complete digest of the depart- 
ment laws, orders and practice ever completed, and I am 
told it has held its place ever since, by occasional 
revisions to bring up subsequent rulings. The book, 
coming out as it did at the close of the war, did not have 
a large sale, but I presume the publishers (Vannostrand 
& Co., of New York) did not lose any money. The 
book yielded me but little in money, but the time, 
study, and effort I put into it made me, I am quite sure, 
the best informed quartermaster in the quartermaster's 
department at that time, which was a satisfactory re- 
ward. 

My duties and social opportunities in Washington 
gave me a large acquaintance both in the army and in 
civil life, and many of the friendships then formed still 
remain, although a majority of my associates of those 
days have passed away. During my term as post quar- 
termaster the war came to an end, and I witnessed the 
rejoicings and tragedies that followed. 

It was a memorable day, that thirteenth day of April, 
1865. As for us in Washington City we were already 
hoarse with shouting the day before. The bells and 
cannon clanged and boomed with hoarseness greater than 
usual. The news of the collapse of the rebellion rolled 
and surged over the country like a rushing mighty wind. 
The strain of anxiety which for four long years had 
rested upon the nation like a nightmare dream, had been 
lifted. Millions of firesides, upon hill- tops and in valleys, 
glowed with a brighter luster as news of victory floated 
in the air. 

For months, fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, 
had been singing, "Oh that will be joyful, joyful, joyful, 
when Johnny comes marching home again" ; and now, at 



164 RECOUvKCTlONS OF UFKTIME. 

last, he was coming; thank God he was coming. Hur- 
rah! hurrah!! hurrah!!! 

Just four years before, on the thirteenth day of April, 
1 86 1, our flag for the first time in its history, had gone 
down amid the smoke and blaze and battle of rebellion; 
and now, on the thirteenth day of April, 1865, that same 
old flag which went down at Sumter, went back again to 
its old place, as a proclamation to the whole world that 
the rebellion was ended and the Union restored. In 
honor of this event, we, the people of the United States, 
also proposed, God willing, to celebrate, and we did 
celebrate. From Maine to California we belted the conti- 
nent with bonfires, and rivaled the stars with the blaze 
of our rockets. Probably never again in this country 
will such scenes be witnessed; certainly never before in 
this hemisphere has there been such a saturnalia of 
rejoicing. It will be impossible for a generation of 
peaceful times to comprehend the hight and depth and 
breadth of joy which welled up from the heart of the 
nation upon that day. To understand it they must see 
what we saw, suffer what we suffered. 

Now, after a lapse of thirty-five years, time has so 
blunted our sensibilities that our manifestations of joy, 
as then exhibited, may seem extravagant, but it did not 
seem so then. In fact they fell far below our real feel- 
ings. I have a copy of the "Morning Chronicle" of 
April 14, 1865, which recalls with some degree of vivid- 
ness what then took place with variations throughout the 
entire loyal country. As Washington was the location 
of the event and its doings are a part of the surrounding 
circumstances, or res gestce, as lawyers say, it may be 
well to examine this document. It does seem a little 
ridiculous now, but here is a description of my own 
demonstrations upon that occasion. 



PITTSBURGH AND WASHINGTON. 1 65 

"Bureaus and Offices of the War Department." 

"The office of Colonel R. Brinkerhoff, Post Quartermaster, No. 
232 G. street [I really was only a captain as yet], was ablaze with 
lights from the pavement to the storm flag. The windows in the 
second and third stories were draped in red, white and blue, 
and decorated with corps badges. Across the front was a trans- 
parency with the inscription, 'No Monarch in Mexico; No Pirates 
on the Seas.' In two of the lower windows were life-size 
photographs of the secretary of war, and the quartermaster 
general, and on a screen at the hall door were illuminated por- 
traits of the President, and of General Grant, Sherman and 
Sheridan. Over the three generals was the inscription, 'Ohio's 
Quota.' Under the likeness of Mr. Lincoln was the following: 
'And Abraham drew near and said: wilt thou also destroy the right- 
eous with the wicked? And the Lord said: if I find in Sodom fifty 
righteous within the city, then will I spare all the place for their 
sakes.' (Gen. xviii, 23, 26.) Under the photograph of Mr. 
Stanton: 'Not content with dispersing one traitor cabinet in 
Washington, he evoked and organized the powers of war, and dis- 
persed another at Richmond. ' Under the photograph of General 
Meigs were the letters 'Q. M. D.', and in an evergreen wreath the 
inscription, 'Our Chief.' Beneath the picture was the following: 
'The army has been well supplied with all the essentials of mili- 
tary equipments, and with fuel, forage and all necessaries. ' ' ' Sec- 
retary of War's Report, March 1, 1865. 

After such a demonstration as this, you can imagine 
faintly the feelings of the people next morning when 
telegraphic bulletins all over the land proclaimed ' 'The 
President dead!" 

I recall my own feelings by the closing paragraph 
of a letter written home that morning, It is as follows: 
"I will write you further to-morrow, when, perhaps, I 
can see through a clearer medium than blinding tears. ' ' 
It is with this letter as a verifier that I give my recollec- 
tions of the assassination. The morning papers, of 
April 14, had announced the arrival of General Grant in 
the city, and the evening papers made the further an- 



1 66 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

nouncement that in company with the President he 
would be at Ford's theater that night. 

From want of inclination, or want of time, I have 
never been much of a theater-goer myself, but I had a 
couple of friends who had never seen General Grant. 
Therefore, for the first time, in Washington, I concluded 
to go with them. We went ,early in order to select our 
position. The night was dark, for there was no moon 
until after ten o'clock, and my recollection, also, is that 
it was cloudy, with a gloomy mist in the air. At any 
rate as we came down the avenue from the war office and 
passed B. street, we noticed in front of Gr over's theatre, 
which was a little distance to the left, a large transpar- 
ency, and as it was the only one visible, we gave it 
attention; but as the air was misty or smoky we could 
not make out the inscription distinctly. At each end, 
however, there was a separate inscription: that on the 
left was "April, 1861, the cradle." That on the right 
was "April, 1865, the grave." 

"Rather ominous, that," said one of the party. 
"They must be rebels," said another. Of course it 
meant the cradle and grave of the rebellion, but its in- 
distinctiveness confirms my recollection of the mistiness 
of the night. We remembered it afterwards as an omen 
of evil. 

We passed on to Tenth street, and having entered the 
theater, we took seats diagonally opposite the President' s 
box, and upon the same floor. The President's box was 
upon the second floor, which was twelve feet eight in- 
ches above the stage. The tw© boxes upon that floor 
had been thrown into one by removing the partition 
between them. The box was festooned with flags, so 
that we knew it was the President's. 

The play commenced and had been in progress quite a 
while, perhaps half an hour, when the President came in. 



PITTSBURGH AND WASHINGTON. 1 67 

He was greeted with a storm of applause as he passed on 
to his box. He was accompanied by Mrs. Lincoln, Miss 
Harris and Major Rathbun. General Grant had con- 
cluded not to come and was then on his way to Phila- 
delphia. 

Mr. Lincoln took a seat in an armchair (a rocking 
chair) at the side next to the audience. Mrs. Lincoln 
was at his right, near the center of the box, and Miss 
Harris at the further side. Major Rathbun was seated 
on a sofa near Miss Harris, a little back from the front. 
Mr. Lincoln, for the first time during my knowledge of 
him, seemed cheerful and happy. I had seen him often 
during his presidential term, commencing with his in- 
auguration in 1 86 1, and a sadder face I never saw. But 
now the load seemed lifted and every vestige of care and 
anxiety had passed away. He seemed to enjoy the play 
very much. The play was the American Cousin, and 
Laura Keene was the star of the evening. 

Everything passed on very pleasantly until about ten 
o'clock or a little later. It was in the third act, in the 
milkmaid scene, when one of my friends called my 
attention to the President's box, with the remark, 
* 'there's a reporter going to see Father Abraham." I 
looked and saw 'a man standing at the door of the Presi- 
dent's box, with his hat on, and looking down upon the 
stage. Presently he took out a card case, or something 
of that kind, from his side pocket and took out a card. 
It is said he showed it to the President's messenger out- 
side, but I saw nothing of that kind, in fact I saw no 
other man there aside from those seated in the audience. 
He took off his hat, and put his hand upon the door 
knob, and went into the little hall or corridor, back of 
the box. I then turned to the play. Presently, I can- 
not say how soon, it may have been two, three or five 
minutes, I heard a pistol shot. I turned to the President's 



1 68 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

box and saw a man flash to the front, with face as white 
as snow, and hair as black as a raven. 

My first impression was that it was a part of the play. 
The man put his left hand upon the front railing and 
went over, not with a clean sweep, but with a kind of a 
scramble, first one leg and then the other. It evidently 
was his intention to swing over as we swing over a fence, 
but his spur, as appeared afterwards, caught in the flag, 
and hence the scramble. 

As he went over, or possibly after reaching the stage, 
he shouted very clearly and distinctly, "sic semper 
tyrannis" and then for the first time it flashed upon me 
that the whole thing meant assassination. The Virginia 
coat of arms, w T ith its device, had been familiar to me 
from childhood, and of course with ' Cl sic semper tyrannis" 
ringing clearly through the hall, I understood it at once. 
The man struck the floor, and sunk down partially, but 
immediately rose up and brandishing a double-edged 
dagger, which glittered in the gas light, he passed diag- 
onally across the stage, with his face to the audience, 
and went out. He did not run, it was a swift stage-walk, 
and was evidently studied beforehand, like everything 
else he did, for effect. It is said his leg was broken by 
the fall, but I saw no evidence of it in his gait. 

For a moment there was a stillness of death. The 
audience seemed paralyzed. No sound whatever came 
from the box that I heard. It is said in the various 
accounts that Mrs. Lincoln shrieked. I heard no shriek. 
Major Rathbun testified that he shouted "stop that 
man." I heard nothing of that kind, and I believe I 
could have heard a whisper. I saw Mr. Lincoln sitting 
in his chair with his head drooped upon his breast, but 
in all other respects he retained the position he had be- 
fore he was shot. 

Quite a little interval passed before anything was said 



PITTSBURGH AND WASHINGTON. 1 69 

or done. By interval I mean twenty, thirty or forty 
seconds, which under such circumstances seem a long 
time. Then some of the audience rose up, others sat 
still. Here and there inquiries came as to whether the 
President was hurt. 

In company with Major Potter (a paymaster in the 
army) I started for the box, but before we got there 
others had found that it was barred inside. In the 
meantime Miss Keene had gone into the box from the 
stage entrance, and perhaps one or two others; at any 
rate an inquiry was made for a surgeon, and a crowd 
gathered around the box. There was no uproar or con- 
fusion at any time. After a few moments the door was 
opened and Mr. Lincoln was carried out along the back 
side of the dress-circle and out at the front. I was close 
behind, and as we went down stairs I noticed a plash of 
blood on every step. His face was very pale, and the 
stamp of death upon it, which once seen rarely de- 
ceives us. 

As we reached the street the news began to come of 
other assassinations. The vice-president had been killed; 
Mr. Seward had been murdered, also Mr. Stanton. In 
fact the air was full of rumors of blood, and for a short 
time it looked as if there might be a second Saint 
Bartholomew in progress. I immediately passed down 
Tenth street for a sight of the signal station upon the 
Winder building, and soon saw signals to the army and 
answers from the fortifications, and knew that any up- 
rising would be quickly suppressed. Mr. I^incoln was 
taken into a dwelling house across the street from the 
theater, where he lingered until the morning of April 15, 
and then died. This closing stanza of his favorite poem 
illustrates his ending: 

11 'Tis the wink of an eye — 'tis the draught of a breath, 
From the blossom of health to the paleness of death, 



170 RFCOU<FCTlONS OF A LIFETIME}. 

From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud; 
Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud ! ' ' 

As to the impelling causes of a deed so desperate, yet 
so useless, as the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, it is 
difficult to answer. Booth, himself, doubtless, was 
actuated by various motives. He was steeped to the 
lips in the spirit of the rebellion, but I am inclined to 
think that ambition was the strongest influence. A 
wise poet has said: 

"Ambition has but two steps: the lowest, blood; the highest, envy." 

Booth loved notoriety as he loved life, and notoriety 
he must have, good or bad. I^ike Erastratus, he 
"yearned for immortality," and doubtless he remem- 
bered the old couplet: 

' 'He who burned the Bphesian dome outlived in fame the pious 
fools who reared it. ' ' 

It may be that Booth had worked himself into the idea 
that Mr. Lincoln was a kind of representative tyrant, and 
that in killing him he was playing the role of Brutus, but 
I think not, for the entire affair was entirely too stagey, 
at least for the spirit of Brutus. He was acting a pre- 
meditated part from beginning to end, it is true, but it 
was entirely for stage effect, and for the glorification of 
he actor. His " sic semper tyrannis" was stagey. His 
whole attitude and walk before the audience at the the- 
ater were stagey. His double-edged gladiatorial dagger 
had been prepared purposely for stage effect. In fact, 
it was all a part of a play which was to make John 
Wilkes Booth immortal in history. 

Booth had a certain kind of reckless physical courage, 
and was a gamey looking fellow, but there was no moral 
basis to his character, and hence I cannot find any mo- 
tive in him to do this deed except vanity, and a mor- 



PITTSBURGH AND WASHINGTON. 171 

bid love of notority. He showed these traits in his 
death, the circumstances of which were related to me by 
Colonel Conger, who was in command of the soldiers 
who captured him. 

Conger was a native of Richland county, Ohio, and 
was the son of Rev. Enoch Conger, one of the founders 
of the Congregational Church in the city of Mansfield, 
and was as brave a man as ever went into battle. At this 
time he was lieutenant- colonel of the First D. C. Cav- 
alry. Conger was especially friendly to me for the rea- 
son that I aided him with Governor Dennison, in 1861, 
in securing his commission as first lieutenant. 

Booth and Harold were driven into a barn, in Mary- 
land, and surrounded. Harold gave himslf up, but Booth 
refused. He knew it was death, anyhow, and, therefore, 
true to his instincts of notoriety, he determined to put 
himself in an attitude suitable for the final close of the 
play and the fall of the curtain. To the summons to sur- 
render he replied: "If you withdraw your men in line, 
one hundred yards from the door, I will come out and 
fight you." He was told that they did not come to fight, 
but to capture him. He then proposed that if the sol- 
diers would withdraw fifty yards he would come out and 
fight them. Upon receiving the same reply as before, he 
replied, in a theatrical voice: "Well, my brave boys, pre- 
pare a stretcher for me!" 

After all the necessary dispositions had been made of 
the troops, with orders to take him alive, if possible, 
Conger made a final demand of Booth to give himself up. 
He refused. It was a rough night, and dark as a wolf's 
mouth, so that nothing could be seen thus far. Conger 
then took a match from his pocket, and lighted some hay 
through a crevice in the barn. The flames at once 
rushed up the side of the barn and rolled over the hay- 
mow in a vast volume of light. Booth was revealed 



172 RECOEEECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

standing in the center of the barn-floor, leaning upon 
crutches, with a carbine in his hand, and in a stage atti- 
tude of a robber at bay. He looked all around, but see- 
ing no audience he started for the door, but before reach- 
ing it he was shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett. 

Thus died John Wilkes Booth, the puppet of the Re- 
bellion and the slave of his own vanity. Thus the trag- 
edy ended. Each went to his reward. Lincoln to an im- 
mortality of honor, Booth to an immortality of infamy. 

" Duncan is in his grave; 
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well; 
Treason has done his worst; nor steel, nor poison, 
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing 
Can touch him further. ' ' 



AFTER THE ASSASSINATION. 1 73 



CHAPTER XIV. 

After the Assassination. 

Promoted to a colonelcy — First acquaintance with Secretary Stan- 
ton — Leave of absence — On duty at the war office — Relations with 
Mr. Stanton — Ordered to Cincinnati — Duties as post quarter- 
master — Six months of funerals — Politicians seek my transfer — 
Interview with Secretary Stanton — Out of the army — again in 
civil life — Attorney for the war office — Last visit to Stanton— 
Estimate of Stanton — Seward and Chase — Stanton in Buchan- 
nan's cabinet. 

After the death of Lincoln I was a part and parcel of 
the funeral pageantry that followed. Later I participated 
in and witnessed the grand review, the greatest military 
pageant upon the American continent, and as the sum- 
mer came on I expected of course to be mustered out 
with the rest of the army. I was yet a captain and ex- 
pected to end my military career as a captain, but it was 
ordered otherwise. 

Senator Sherman and his brother Judge Charles T. 
Sherman, in the autumn of 1864, had suggested, for 
political reasons, that I should be transferred to Colum- 
bus, Ohio, in charge of the depot there, with some pro- 
motion, but nothing came of it, and I thought no more 
about it. However, June came with its summer bloom 
and I was still a captain; but it so happened that one 
evening, soon after the business of my office closed for 
the day, an orderly from the war office came in and 
notified me that Secretary Stanton desired my presence. 

I had never met Stanton, although I knew almost 
everybody else about the war office, and had not the 



174 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

slightest idea of what he wanted. However, I put on 
my uniform and marched over to the war office. I 
found General Pelouze in the outer office and reported 
to him. He said the secretary wanted to see me in his 
private office, and told me to send in my card, which I 
did. The messenger returned and invited me to walk in. 
I found the secretary alone, sitting at his desk, and as I 
entered he arose and shook hands with me and asked me 
to be seated. What he wanted was a mystery to me, and 
at first he did not seem inclined to enlighten me. He 
inquired about Ohio, and various friends he knew, and 
talked on for ten minutes or more, but at last he said to 
me, captain, my attention has been called to your record 
and I find it a very good one. One thing I noticed is 
that you have held positions for a long time far above 
your rank, and I think it is about time that you should 
have shoulder straps to correspond. I said to him I w T as 
pleased to have that fact recognized, and especially by 
him, because promotion without such recognition I would 
not value. Well, he said, what do you want; I replied 
I only want that which I am entitled to. 

He then inquired if I knew of any vacancy in my de- 
partment. I said, no sir, not now. Just then it occurred 
to me that there was a vacancy in the inspector's depart- 
ment, but as this was next in rank to the highest in my 
department, I had not the slightest idea of reaching it. 
He replied, yes, that is so, and there is a great pressure 
for it, and it ought to be filled. When did you come 
here ? I told him. Would your present position be a 
proper assignment as inspector ? I would like to date 
back your commission so that you can draw pay from 
that date. I said, I think not, sir. I will be content if 
dated now. All right, he said, and wrote a note and put 
it in a envelope, and told me to take it to Adjutant- 
General Townsend, and he would issue me my com- 



AFTER THE ASSASSINATION. 1 75 

mission as inspector of the quartermaster's department, 
with the rank, pay and emoluments of a colonel of 
cavalry, and give me a leave of absence for thirty days. 
I thanked him of course, but he said not a bit of it, you 
ought to have had it long ago. 

Mr. Stanton has been described, and apparently is still 
considered by many, as a man of fierce passions and of 
a tyrannic temper, and it will probably require many 
years and a long perspective before the world will fully 
appreciate the magnitude and value of the man. Among 
army officers who did not know him well, Mr. Stanton 
was looked upon as fierce and passionate, and even 
major-generals quaked when they went into his pres- 
ence. The truth was, Stanton was only harsh to evil- 
doers and drones, or those he deemed such; but to 
any one earnest in the discharge of his duty he was always 
considerate. To me he was always kind, and during the 
months I was under his immediate orders I do not re- 
member an unkind word. 

I received my commission as colonel and my leave of 
absence, but before going home I called on Quartermas- 
ter-General Meigs to consult him as to my future as- 
signment. He told me he expected to send me to Gen- 
eral Sherman's department, whose headquarters were to 
be at St. Iyouis. I went home, and on my return a 
month later I went to the office of General Meigs to get 
my orders, but found he was out of the city and would 
not be back for a week or two. I told General Charles 
Thomas, who was the acting quartermaster- general, what 
had been arranged for me; but he said he knew nothing 
about it, and directed me to call upon Colonel Bingham, 
chief of the first division, who had charge of assign- 
ments. Bingham was an old acquaintance with whom I 
had served in Tennessee, and he met me very cordially, 
but said I should first get an order from the war office 



176 RECOIJ^ECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

to report to the quartermaster-general for orders. I said 
to him my commission necessarily carried me to the 
quartermaster-general without any special order; but if 
he insisted, of course I would go to the war office. He 
insisted, and I went. I found General Pelouze and told 
him what I was required to furnish. He said it was all 
nonsense, but if I would write a statement he would see 
the secretary and get the order. Just then the secretary 
came in, and Pelouze told me to tell him my story. He 
greeted me very cordially, and I told him what was re- 
quired of me. He bristled up in a moment, and inquired 
who said that. ' 'Colonel Bingham, sir," I replied. 
"Nonsense," said Stanton; "the fool hasn't a thimbleful 
of brains," and turning to an orderly he said: "Go and 
see Colonel Bingham and tell him I want to see him im- 
mediately." Evidently he thought that Bingham, who 
was a West Point officer, was criticising his appointment 
of a volunteer instead of a regular. 

In this he was mistaken, for General Meigs and Colonel 
Bingham were both my friends; but nevertheless it was 
evident that Bingham was likely to be roughly handled. 
Fortunately for Bingham, he was out of his office, and 
the orderly so reported. The secretary hesitated for a 
moment or two, and then turning to General Pelouze, he 
said: "Issue an order directing Colonel Brinkerhoff to 
report to me for duty in my office," and so, much to my 
disappointment, I was deprived of my Western assign- 
ment. However, according to his directions, I went to 
his office the next morning. 

Colonel Bingham' s faux pas in regard to my commis- 
sion was a small thing in itself, but it changed the whole 
current of my life. Except for him I doubtless would 
have gone to General Sherman, and my duties would 
have familiarized me with that whole Western country, 
and the result, in all probability, would have been that 



AFTER THE ASSASSINATION. 1 77 

I would have located permanently in the northwest, and 
my career would have been wholly different from what 
it has been. However, ''there is a Providence that 
shapes our ends, " and so it came about that I was as- 
signed to duty with Secretary Stanton. 

Just then there were a large number of investigations 
of matters pertaining to various departments of the army, 
in pursuance of a resolution of congress, with directions 
to report to the secretary of war, and these investigations 
involved the standing and character of a large number of 
officers. Upon these reports the secretary must act as 
the circumstances might require, but in the pressure of 
other matters it was impossible to examine the numer- 
ous and voluminous reports presented with sufficient 
thoroughness to form an intelligent opinion, and so he 
turned all such reports over to me, with instructions to 
go through them and present upon a sheet of paper the 
results, and upon my findings he would act. It was a 
great responsibility, but I discharged it to the best of my 
ability, and I think to the entire satisfaction of the 
secretary. 

Occasionally in waiting for certain reports I would 
have days of leisure, and these I gave largely to settling 
my accounts at the treasury, as their adjustment often 
called for explanations, which I could readily give when 
on the ground, as I then was. In this way I put in the 
time until November, when the report of a commission, 
of which General Baldy Smith was the head, came in. 
This investigation involved all matters pertaining to the 
quartermaster's department at Cincinnati, which was 
then the most important depot in the country. The 
investigation had been going on for six months, and the 
report and accompanying papers were very voluminous. 
These were turned over to me, and I spent perhaps two 
weeks in going through them, and the results were so 



178 RECOU/ECTIONS OF A UFETIME. 

unsatisfactory that I was compelled to report that the 
papers did not warrant any definite conclusions. 

Mr. Stanton was very much annoyed about it, and 
berated the commission soundly for spending six months 
and doing nothing of value. He said to me, I have tried 
for three years to stop the stealing at that post, for I 
know that the government has been robbed right and 
left, but it seems I cannot do it. Now, Colonel, he 
continued, I want you to take charge of that post and 
straighten it out, and stay there until we can close it up, 
which I want to do, and distribute the property to the 
other depots. By this time I had gotten over my far 
western fever and was well satisfied to go to Cincinnati. 
It was one of the most important positions in the quarter- 
master's department, and was near home, and I readily 
consented and was duly ordered to take charge of the 
depot at Cincinnati. 

I took charge of the Cincinnati depot about the middle 
of November, 1865. The aggregation of property was 
immense, and required for storage about twenty of the 
largest storehouses in the city. In addition were various 
camps, with corrals for mules and horses, and storage 
for wagons, forage, etc., so that, taking everything 
together, the total value of property was estimated at 
from twenty-five to thirty millions of dollars. 

The working force of the depot at Cincinnati, included 
officers and men, numbered about three hundred, and 
upon the whole I found them faithful and efficient men, 
and did not find it necessary to make many changes. 
That there had been irregularities and abuses was evident 
enough, but these were soon corrected, and in a few weeks 
I was able to report the department in a condition fairly 
satisfactory, and by the coming of the spring months I 
felt that I could ask to be mustered out of service, with- 
out any detriment to the efiiciency of the department; 



AFTER THE ASSASSINATION. 1 79 

and I therefore suggested to trie secretary that it would 
be gratifying to me to be relieved as soon as satisfactory 
arrangements could be made for a successor. 

Just at this time, however, the cholera, broke out in 
the city, and people began :o be frightened, and of course, 
it would not do for the chief of a department, as import- 
ant as mine, to show the white feather, and so I withdrew 
my request to be mustered out and continued during the 
summer. 

The six months, from April 1 to October 1, 1866, was 
the most disagreeable period of my military service. The 
cholera increased in violence so that the death rate from 
that cause ran up to one hundred a day and about the 
only signs of life in the afternoons were funerals. In 
my department, however, by careful sanitary arrange- 
ments and discipline, I managed to keep my force in 
fair health, and do not remember of more than two or 
three fatal cases. My chief clerk had a close call, and 
was very ill for a few days, but personally I went 
through without any serious disturbance. 

About the only variety to the dull monotony of this 
period, was the efforts of thieves and politicians to get 
some one in my place who would run the department in 
their interest, and with this end in view, brought various 
influences to bear upon President Johnson to have me re- 
moved. Secretary Stanton, however, stood by me like a 
rock, and I was left undisturbed. Instead of removing 
me he sent me my commission as brevet brigadier-general 
of United States volunteers, and complimented my effi- 
ciency . 

The only charge made against me was that I was using 
my position to further the election of members of Con- 
gress hostile to the policy of President Johnson. It was 
true I did not approve the political vagaries of the Presi- 
dent, but I knew my duty too well to violate any of the 



180 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

military requirements of my position. Plunder and not 
politics was the real reason why my enemies desired my 
removal, and they sought for the assignment of some 
officer in my place who would be subservient to their 
wishes. 

A delegate went to Washington and easily interested the 
President to make the transfer, as soon as it could be 
properly arranged with the war office. The secretary, 
however, assured the President that, at that time, there 
was no officer at command, with the experience necessary 
for so important a post, and I was left undisturbed. 

Later on another delegation was sent to Washington 
and insisted that a transfer should be made, and the 
President assented, and so notified the war office. The 
first I heard of it was by a telegram from the secretary 
directing me to come to Washington, as privately as I 
could, and come directly to his house. 

I went home, ostensibly on a few days' visit, and from 
Mansfield I went to Washington, arriving there in the 
evening, and drove directly to Mr. Stanton's house. He 
was at dinner, but left the table and took me to a private 
room and told me the situation, and said he would make 
another effort to dissuade the President, but if he could 
not, he would telegraph me that my resignation was 
accepted. 

He told me afterwards that upon the examination of 
the law of Congress authorizing my appointment, he 
found that it made it the duty of the secretary of war, 
and not the President, to make such appointment, and 
Mr. Stanton pointed out this feature of the law, and the 
President saw the point and I was left alone. 

At last, as the cholera subsided, and my enemies gave up 
all attempts to dislodge me, I wrote to Mr. Stanton, and re- 
quested him to accept my resignation, which he did, to take 
effect October i , 1 866. This ended my five years of service 



AFTER THE ASSASSINATION. l8l 

in the army . Doubtless nine hundred and ninety-nine peo- 
ple in a thousand would say that for a man to leave the 
army, voluntarily, with my position and prospects, was a 
foolish thing. Just what I could have had in the regular 
army I do not know, but Mr. Stanton proposed to me a 
year before I resigned, to transfer me to the regular 
army, and in a way to assure me that I could have any- 
thing a volunteer officer could receive in my department. 
I told him I could not think of devoting my life to the 
idleness of an army officer in time of peace, notwith- 
standing its ease and freedom from care. He said he 
thought I was right, but if I cared to stay he would be 
glad to have me. 

It took me some years to get a firm footing m civil 
life, and sometimes I was anxious, but yet I do not re- 
member that I regretted leaving the army, and now after 
the lapse of more than a quarter of a century I am quite 
sure that my life has been broader, happier, and more 
useful as a private citizen than it would have been as an 
army officer. If Stanton could have left when I did he 
might have been living yet. He desired to do so some 
months earlier, but the extravagances and antago- 
nisms of President Johnson made it difficult if not im- 
possible, and the long-deferred rest was too much for him. 
I was in Washington frequently after my resignation, and 
always called to see him, and he always seemed glad to 
see me. 

After Grant became President, I was absent for some 
months, and did not see him. It was reported in the 
newspapers that he was not well, yet I had no idea that 
he was seriously ill; but after awhile I came to Washing- 
ton, and as usual called at his house in the evening. 
His servant told me that Mr. Stanton was not premitted 
to see visitors just then, but the doctor thought he was 



1 82 RECOU^CTIONS OF A UFETIMF. 

improving, and as soon as lie was able he expected to go 
to the seashore. 

I was stopping at the Kbbitt House, and in the morn- 
ing Mr. Stanton's son Edwin (Ned, as we called him) 
came to see me and said that his father had scolded be- 
cause I was not permitted to see him, and wanted me to 
come up at once. I went to his home, and was shown 
to his bedroom upstairs. He was lying on a lounge He 
asked me to sit by him on a chair, and greeted me with 
his old-time cordiality. I saw at once a great change in 
his appearance, for he was only a shadow of his former 
self. I soon found also that the mighty intellect which 
used to work with the ease and power of a Corliss en- 
gine, was halting and slow, and occasionally was almost 
incoherent. We talked of many things, and especially 
of the apparent want of appreciation by the President, 
but there was no complaint on his part. 

The truth was, that Grant simply ignored the existence 
of the man to whom he owed his opportunities, and 
without whom he would have remained a comparatively 
unknown quantity. 

A short time after my visit, Stanton was made a justice 
of the supreme court, but did not live to take his seat. 
I left Mr. Stanton feeling that the end was near, and I so 
told General Kckert (who expected to go with him to 
the seashore), when I returned to the hotel, and I never 
saw him again. Mr. Stanton as a war secretary has 
never been surpassed, and I doubt if he has ever been 
equaled. In my judgment, next to President I^incoln, 
he was by all odds the most important force in the sub- 
jugation of the Rebellion, and without him I have very 
serious doubts as to the preservation of the Union. Sec- 
retary Seward was a very important factor, and second 
only to Stanton, for without his wonderful diplomatic 
skill foreign recognition and help would have been ex- 



AFTER THE ASSASSINATION. 183 

tended to the Confederacy, and our own cause in all 
probability would have been lost. Secretary Chase was 
second only to Stanton and Seward in the value of his 
services, for without a solvent treasury we could not have 
succeeded. 

I knew all three of these men personalty and intimately, 
and intellectually they were the greatest men I have ever 
met, and each in his place was a giant, but of the three 
Stanton was the most indispensable in the War of the 
Rebellion. His first great service was in the cabinet of 
President Buchanan, and without which the Rebellion 
might have succeed at the very beginning. 

It will be remembered that in the month of December, 
i860, I^ewis Cass, then secretary of state, resigned his 
position, and that Attorney- General Black was promoted 
to fill the vacancy. The exit of General Cass left but 
one loyal man in the cabinet, viz., Postmaster- General 
Holt. Floyd, the infamous, was secretary of war, and 
was transferring arms and fortifications into the hands of 
the rebels as rapidly as he could; Thomas, the bond 
thief, was secretary of the treasury; Toucy, the rene- 
gade, was secretary of the navy. Treason ruled the 
roost. With a majority in the cabinet, the supreme 
court and the senate, everything seemed to indicate 
plain sailing and a sure thing for the success of the rebel 
schemes. 

In all probability, it would have been a sure thing ex- 
cept for an intervening circumstance. The Confederacy 
was already substantially organized, and only awaited 
full inauguration, until the preliminary program of trans- 
ferring the United States forts, arsenals, etc., could be 
completed. Full arrangements with France and England 
had been made for the recognition of the Confederacy as 
soon as the seizure of Washington should indicate a ' ( de 
facto" power of sufficient strength, for such recognition, 



1 84 RECOIXKCTIONS OF A UFETIME. 

to other nations. It is true, a little hitch had occurred 
in the meantime, and the denouement delayed by the un- 
expected action of Major Anderson in moving into Fort 
Sumter, but this was not considered serious, as Floyd was 
secretary of war, and could manage the matter. 

"All went merry as marriage bells," but just here, as 
before stated, the office of attorney- general became va- 
cant, and somebody had to be appointed to fill it. The 
office, apparently, did not amount to much in the way of 
furthering or deterring the rebel schemes, and, therefore, 
it probably did not secure very much attention from the 
conspirators. Possibly, they may have thought that 
Stanton was in sympathy with them. He was a north- 
ern Democrat, and was understood to have supported 
Breckenridge for President, and probably this was con- 
sidered a sufficient guaranty of at least neutrality on his 
part. However this may be, Mr. Stanton was appointed 
attorney-general, and entered upon the duties of his 
office. 

What happened I learned from Christopher P. Walcott 
(long since dead), the brother-in-law of Mr. Stanton, and 
the facts given are from memoranda I made over thirty 
years ago, and I have no doubt are substantially correct. 
Mr. Stanton very quickly took in the situation, and de- 
termined what he would do. What his program was 
may be surmised from a remark made to Walcott, who 
was about leaving the city: "To-morrow," said the sec- 
retary, "I meet for the first time, in cabinet council, Mr. 
Floyd, secretary of war, and it will be the last time. He 
or I must go out." 

All the circumstances attending that meeting of the 
cabinet it is not now possible to give. Suffice it to say, 
the subject of abandonment or reinforcement of Fort 
Sumter was under discussion. The new secretary, as the 
legal adviser of the President, was asked his opinion, and 



AFTKR THE} ASSASSINATION. 1 85 

he quietly gave it. Of course, that opinion was hostile 
to the conspirators, and the winds blew at once. Floyd 
sprang to his feet and arrograntly sought to squelch the 
intruder. He stated he had pledged the faith of the 
government to the governor of South Carolina not to re- 
inforce Fort Sumter, and that the existing status of affairs 
should be preserved, at least, until the Crittenden con- 
ference negotiations were over, etc. 

As he went on, the storm blackened. The President 
saw and tried to quell it. His policy was peace, and the 
existing status until the close of his term of office. After 
me the deluge. Stanton, however, was not the man to 
be smoothed into docility at such a time. On the con- 
trary, he poured upon the President in that hour all the 
pent-up patriotism of the nation. He charged him as 
his legal adviser, and as the law officer of the govern- 
ment, that it was his sworn duty to reinforce and stand 
by Fort Sumter, and, in addition, to bring to bear every- 
where, against treason and traitors, all the powers of the 
nation. He charged home on Floyd and Thomas the 
crimes of which they had been guilty. 

Poor old Buchanan, in the meantime, sank back help- 
lessly in his arm chair, and blubbered like a child. Stan- 
ton rode the storm. The result of all this was that the 
next day Floyd resigned, and Holt took his place. A 
few days later, Thomas followed, and John A. Dix came 
in. Then, with Stanton, Holt and Dix to guide the 
helm, the old "ship of state" swept through the rapids, 
sound in her hull, and the country was saved. 



1 86 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER XV. 

New Experiences. 

Start again as a lawyer — Views of great cities — The Grant cam- 
paign — On the stump in Maine and New York — Suggestions of 
official appointments — Glad to stay at home — Views of civil 
service reform — A new hobby — Free-trade in a Republican con- 
vention — Committee on resolutions — Speech for a tariff reform — ■ 
A new vocation — On the lecture platform — The Free Trade 
league — Visit to New York — A call upon Henry Ward Beecher — 
Lecture appointments in western cities — incidents at Detroit 
and Michigan University — Chicago and beyond — Return to New 
York — Engagements with Governor Hoffman. 

After five years of service, in which head and hand 
and heart were wholly absorbed, it was not easy to take 
on the methods and habits of civil life, and I found am- 
ple opportunity for the exercise of patience and perse- 
verance in regaining a foothold. In any profession, and 
especially the legal profession, anyone who drops out of 
practice on account of war, politics or anything else, even 
for a year or two, will always find it difficult to reinstate 
himself. In this respect I was not an exception, but 
fortunately I had been connected with army investigations 
and prosecutions which at the close of the war were trans- 
ferred to the civil courts, and Mr. Stanton desired me, as a 
lawyer, to look after them, and this for a year or two gave 
me a sufficient income to live comfortably, and in the 
meantime to make business acquaintances and establish 
some business connections. I had my home at Mans- 
field, but for a year or two I had serious thoughts of 
locating elsewhere. 



NEW EXPERIENCES. 187 

Doubtless, in a business way, it would have been best 
for me to have settled in Cincinnati or some other large 
city, but the love of locality and a disinclination to 
change, inherited from my Dutch ancestry, finally over- 
came all temptations to go elsewhere, and so, in the spring 
of 1867, I opened up a law office at Mansfield, and com- 
menced the erection of the home in which we have lived 
since the first day of January, 1869, and upon the whole 
I have no doubt I have enjoyed life as well as I could 
anywhere else. I have not become very rich or very 
famous, but I have been happy, and I am what I am. 

Upon the whole, life in great cities has greater draw- 
backs than that of cities of moderate proportions, except 
perhaps to those whose main object in life is money 
getting or money spending. In a city like New York, 
the individual is lost in the multitude, and he is simply 
a grain of sand upon the shores of an ocean. I like New 
York for many reasons. My family is one of the oldest 
in that cit} 7 , and I have more blood relations there than 
in all the rest of the world, and naturally I like to spend 
a few days among them every year. New York is also 
the great center of literature and art as well as commerce 
and finance, and it is helpful to visit it occasionally and 
get such new ideas as it may have at command; but, like 
the diver who goes to the sea for pearls, as soon as I 
succeed in getting what I am after, I want to get back to 
the air and sunlight, and always rejoice as the rush and 
roar of the metropolis recedes in the distance. 

Early in 1868, Mr. Blaine wrote me and insisted that 
I should spend a month in his district prior to the state 
election in September; and I accepted, and early in Au- 
gust I opened the campaign at Bowdoinham, and then 
for thirty days I was on the stump, speaking twice a 
day, except Sundays. Part of the time Blaine was with 
me, and part of the time John Iy. Stevens. It was the 



1 88 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

initiatory election of the presidential campaign, which 
culminated, in November, in the election of General 
Grant for his first term. It was an interesting canvass 
and I enjoyed it very much. With a single exception, I 
spoke in halls, so that I did not strain my voice and 
came out as fresh as I started. 

I then went to Ohio to fill appointments for a week or 
two. After that I went to New York for ten days, but 
all my meetings were outdoors, and the audiences were 
so immense that I was almost worn out when I closed; 
and after that I have never allowed myself to address an 
audience in the open air, except in a few unavoidable 
cases. In good halls I can speak every day in the year 
without impairment, but out of doors I lack volume of 
voice and break down very soon. 

After the election of Grant, the leaders of the party, 
who knew of my political services, seemed to think I was 
entitled to some reward, and Blaine and Senator Sherman 
both volunteered to back me for anything I might desire. 
I considered the matter carefully, and the more I thought 
of it the more I felt that I could not afford to take any 
official position, at least any position to which I could 
reasonably aspire. 

Senator Sherman, a day or two before he left for 
Washington in December, sent for me, and I spent an 
evening with him at his house. I told him I could not 
afford to take an office, at least any one I could reason- 
ably aspire to; that I had arrived at an age when I must 
return to business if I ever made any progress, and to 
take an office would only pay current expenses and leave 
me four or more years older to begin business, and I 
could not afford it. He noticed I said I could not afford 
to take any office I could reasonably aspire to, and asked 
what I considered beyond my reach. I said there was 
only one position I could think of that I would be willing 



NEW EXPERIENCES. 189 

to accept, and that was to represent the country at some 
foreign court, in a Protestant nation, where there were 
educational advantages for my children, and especially 
in the acquisition of the French and German languages. 
This would limit me to Northern Europe and to second- 
rate powers like Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and the 
Netherlands, in all of which there were already appoint- 
ments who in all probability would remain. 

Mr. Sherman said he had no doubt General Hugh 
Ewing, minister to the Netherlands, would be removed, 
as he was an appointee of President Johnson, and he saw 
no reason why I should not have it, and so it was ar- 
ranged that I should be an applicant for The Hague 
mission. 

I^ater on, upon Mr. Sherman's invitation, I went to 
Washington and attended the inauguration of Grant and 
remained until Mr. Fish was appointed secretary of state, 
when my application was duly filed, indorsed by the 
leading politicians of my own state and by Blaine and 
others from outside states. However, I did not get the 
appointment, as Hugh Ewing was retained, upon the 
personal request of his sister, Mrs. General Sherman. I 
was not seriously disappointed, and have long since been 
satisfied that it was a blessing that I failed, and I have 
never desired nor sought public office since, and I have 
not yet reached a point where I would be willing to ac- 
cept any office to which a salary is attached. The truth 
is, that public life in the United States, as now condi- 
tioned, is so evanescent, and public service is so poorly 
paid, that a competent man, unless already independently 
rich, cannot afford to enter it, except as a duty, and at a 
sacrifice, which troublesome times may require. The 
result is, our civil service, in all departments, is crippled 
by incompetents, and must remain far below its possibili- 
ties, until character and capacity, instead of political 



I90 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

activity, shall be the sole requirements in all departments 
of the public service which are purely administrative, 
and tenure in such positions shall be during good be- 
havior. I have faith to believe that the time is not dis- 
tant when the American people will demand such a condi- 
tion of our civil service, and I hope to live long enough 
to see it fairly inaugurated. In our legislative depart- 
ments, where, in the nature of things, politics must be in 
the ascendant, I see no great promise of large improve- 
ment, except in the general improvement of our people 
in intelligence and virtue. 

A democracy is the best government in the world for 
the masses of men so long as a fair working majority of 
citizens are intelligent and honest, but when these fail 
the proverbial "man on horseback" is not far of, and the 
quicker he comes the better. I am an optimist by 
nature, and possibly I may be too sanguine as to our 
future, but I have an abiding faith in the American 
people. They are liable to imposition, and are, more or 
less, the prey of demagogues, but when matters become 
so serious as to threaten public order, or the liberties of 
the people, so that action is indispensable, the average 
American is as true to the right as the needle to pole. 
Our danger now is not from Americans, but from 
foreigners, and I believe the average American begins 
to see this fact, and when he does see it fully a remedy 
will be found. At least let us hope so. 

A new hobby took possession of me. This was the 
way it came about. Born a Democrat, and educated in 
the school of Martin Van Buren, William 1,. Marcy and 
Silas Wright, I was of course a free trader, and conse- 
quently when the war was over, and the status of slavery 
settled by constitutional amendments, I naturally be- 
came restive under the high tariff impositions of the 
Republican Party, and frequently talked the matter over 



NEW EXPERIENCES. 19 r 

with leaders of the party like Blaine, Sherman and Gar- 
field. Garfield was a free trader, as ardently as I was, 
but he represented an old Whig district, and was afraid 
to act. Blaine and Sherman were of Whig antecedents, 
and protectionists by heredity, but they all acknowl- 
edged that the war tariff ought to be mitigated, and 
promised co-operation in due time, and urged me to be 
patient, and the party would come out all right after 
awhile. The truth was old Whiggery dominated the 
party, and it was easier to " whoop up the boys" on war 
issues, and win victories, than it was to consider financial 
questions. 

Finally, I got tired and made up my mind that I would 
stir up the Republican Party on my own hook on the 
tariff question and see what would happen. Ordinarily 
at Republican conventions in my own county I was 
chairman of the committee on resolutions, and, therefore, 
as a rule, I had a platform cut and dried for such occa- 
sions, and my committee would accept it, without ques- 
tion, as orthodox, and the convention would put it 
through. Here was an opportunity, and I made the 
most of it. 

The convention was called for the 14th of June, 1869, 
and a week before that time I had a platform prepared 
for use, in which the sixth resolution was as follows: 

il Resolved, That we are opposed to all class legislation, 
government subsidies and grinding monopolies of every 
kind, and, therefore, we heartily favor a revision of the 
present oppressive tariff, so as to adjust it purely to a 
revenue standard. ' ' 

This resolution I did not reveal to any one except my 
wife, and bided my time. A week or two before the 
convention, I noticed in the "Cincinnati Commercial," an 
independent journal under the control of my friend 
Murat Halstead, who was then a free trader, an article 



192 RECOU,KCTlONS OF A I,lFF/fIMlC. 

attacking certain abuses of the existing tariff, and then 
as an encouragement I wrote to Halstead and told him 
that I intended to give him aid and comfort at our 
coming county convention. He wrote me he would be 
glad to report my action fully for his paper. 

In due time, the 14th of June arrived, and, as I antici- 
pated, I was chairman of the committee on resolutions. 
After dinner I gathered my committee together in a 
corner and read to them my platform without explanation 
or comment and without hesitation; they told me to 
go ahead and report it to the convention. Of course 
I was prepared for emergencies, and I knew perfectly 
well that my twenty minutes speech could not, without 
preparation, be answered by any one in the convention. 

Henry C. Hedges, the trusted manager of Senator 
Sherman's Ohio campaign, was chairman of the conven- 
tion, and when the report of the committee on resolu- 
tions was called for and presented he knew what it 
meant, but as chairman he had nothing to do but to put 
it to a vote. What shall be done with the report of the 
committee on resolutions ? was the inquiry of the chair- 
man. Some one moved that it be received and adopted. 
Some one more discriminating moved a separate vote on 
the sixth resolution. 

The time for my speech, so long premeditated, had 
now come, and so I took the platform, and so far as I 
could, in twenty minutes, I gave the convention the 
full gospel of tariff reform. Nobody attempted a reply, 
and with less than a half a dozen nays my platform was 
adopted. 

The next morning (June 15, 1869), the ' 'Cincinnati 
Commercial" had my speech in full as a special tele- 
gram under such stunning head lines as: 

"A Free-trade Movement." 

"Speech by General Brinkerhoff . " 



NEW EXPERIENCES. 193 

"Protection vs. Revenue." 

' 'Tariff of other Nations. ' ' 

"Ours the Champion of the World." 

"Mission of the Republican Party." 

"Free Speech, Free Soil." 

"Free Ballot, Free-Trade." 

For the first time in the history of the Republican 
Party, a free trade platform had been adopted, and a 
radical revenue reform pronunciamento had been ap- 
proved; and I found myself quite famous, and my 
speech came back to me in all kinds of newspapers and 
in various languages. 

Nothing was farther from my thoughts than notoriety 
of any kind in my free trade demonstrations. I was 
simply full of indignation at what seemed to me to be a 
ruinous public policy, and to give expression to it was a 
mental relief. I had not the slightest idea of changing 
my political affiliations for all parties were absolutely 
oblivious to the importance of the tariff question. 

Historically, the Democratic Party was all right on the 
question, but under the blighting influences of slavery it 
had drifted away from the faith of the fathers and was 
hopelessly floundering in what Bunyan called "the 
slough of despond. " The truth was, neither of the great 
political parties had any principles worth fighting for, and 
political controversies were simply a struggle between the 
ins and outs for the loaves and fishes. 

Sailors tell us that in crossing the equator there is a 
space known as the "doldrums," in which for days there 
is a dead calm, and the ships swing idly on the ocean 
waiting for a breeze. At the period of which I am 
writing, political parties were in the "doldrums," and all 
I was attempting to do was to get up a breeze, and in a 
small way succeeded, but it was only a cap full, and par- 
13 



194 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

ties remained in the "doldrums" until twenty years 
later when Grover Cleveland in his tariff message called 
up the trade winds from "the vasty deep." 

Shortly after my antitariff demonstrations I received a 
letter from Mahlon Sands, secretary of the Free Trade 
League of New York, congratulating me on my speech, 
and asking me to visit New York City for a conference 
with the managers of that association in regard to an en- 
largement of their methods of work. I wrote them I 
would do so in the near future, and as I had business in 
Philadelphia in July, I took that occasion to run over to 
New York for a conference. I presume I had heard of the 
Free Trade League, but I knew nothing of its methods. 
I found the organization had an office on Nassau street, 
and was quite active in the distribution of documents, 
and also published a monthly periodical, which, for the 
most part, was distributed gratuitously. 

The managers and main supporters of this organiza- 
tion were a few young men of wealth and college train- 
ing, who had been interested in the study of political 
economy, and were enthusiastic disciples of Adam Smith 
and his successors, and believed it their duty to dissem- 
inate the gospel of free trade in America. With this ob- 
ject in view they organized the league, and as they were 
young men of wealth and leisure, they could afford to 
give both time and money. Mahlon Sands became sec- 
retary, and for several years gave his personal attention 
to the details of the position. Robert S. Minturn was 
the president, and Charles H. Marshall was the treasurer, 
and among the other supporters and contributors of the 
league were many leading merchants of New York. The 
evening after my arrival a conference was held at the 
home of Mr. Minturn, on Staten Island, and the whole 
subject was discussed in extenso, and I was asked for 
suggestions. 



NEW EXPERIENCES. 195 

I said to them that it seemed to me that no large 
advance could be made until they could do something of 
sufficient magnitude to attract attention from the news- 
papers and call out discussions. As one method of do- 
ing this I suggested that Henr} T Ward Beecher, or some 
other free trader of sufficient eminence and ability to 
challenge attention and opposition, should be invited to 
lecture in a few of the large cities, where the newspapers 
could not help reporting him. This idea was favorably 
received, and Mr. Sands and I were appointed a com- 
mittee to call upon Mr. Beecher, which we did the next 
day. Mr. Beecher received us very kindly and heartily 
sympathized with us, but his engagements were such 
that he could not accept our invitation. 

By this time the league people were fully converted to 
the idea of trying a campaign of public meetings, and 
Professor Perry, of Williams College, was telegraphed 
to lead off, and he consented on condition that one or 
two additional speakers should go with him. The result 
was, I was invited to join him, and I consented on con- 
dition that Mr. Sands should go with us. 

Arrangements were made for a series of meetings and 
an agent of the league was sent forward to advertise and 
work them up. The series as arranged and filled was as 
follows: Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. L,ouis, Spring- 
field, 111., Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Dayton. The meet- 
ings, as we expected, were not overcrowded, but we had 
fair audiences, and their novelty attracted the attention 
we sought for our subject, and the newspapers published 
what we had to say, and the editors wrote us up, or wrote 
us down with great zeal, and free-trade had a hearing 
from the people, it had not received for a generation. 

After our first meeting the Associated Press asked us 
for a thousand words for each future meeting, and we so 
arranged that each dispatch was a new chapter, and in 



ig6 RECOUvECTIONS OF A UF^flMK. 

this way we arranged to get a pretty full gospel before 
the American people by the time we got home. Our 
meeting at Detroit was the smallest, but upon the whole 
I think it was the most fruitful of any in its final results. 
When we went to Detroit we found but four men, in its 
entire board of trade, who were in sympathy with us, 
and among the newspapers, the "Free Press" was our 
only ally. 

The protectionists, imitating the silversmiths of 
Ephesus, and for the same reason, made a tremendous 
racket, and even attempted to break up our meeting by 
cat-calls and questions, but the result was an agitation 
which was continued after we were gone, and in the end 
made such a revolution in the public sentiment, that 
when I was invited to speak again in Detroit a year or 
two later I found a majority of the board of trade were 
friends. 

Our meeting was presided over by Judge C. I. Walker, 
who at that time, was one of the law professors at the 
law school at Ann Arbor, and he invited me to go with 
him to Ann Arbor, on my way to Chicago, and talk free- 
trade to the students. An opportunity to proselyte two 
or three hundred college students was too good to de- 
cline, and so I went, and had a most interesting meeting. 

Our missionary tour, upon the whole, was a great 
success, and from the seed thus planted a great harvest 
has since been gathered. Our "swing around the circle" 
satisfied the league people that public meetings offered a 
wider opportunity for educating public sentiment, and 
therefore, I was offered and accepted the position of 
evangelist for the extension of the gospel of free-trade. 
An avant-courier was provided for me to arrange my 
meetings, and I spent a year or more upon the platform 
in various states from Maine to Minnesota, but mainly 
in New York and Ohio. 



NEW EXPERIENCES. 1 97 

It was an interesting crusade, and full of adventures, 
and interesting occasions, and upon the whole, the re- 
sults warranted the outlay. The autumn of 1870 was 
especially noteworthy; I was invited by Governor Hoff- 
man, of New York, to fill a series of appointments in his 
state, which he would arrange. His object was to pre- 
pare the way for his candidacy for a second term for 
governor upon a distinctively revenue reform platform. 
The meetings were apparently non-partisan, although in 
fact the moving forces were Democrats. 

My arrangements were made so as to take up different 
branches of my subject at different places where I would 
be fully reported in the newspapers, and in that way get 
a fuller gospel before the people of the state. For ex- 
ample, at Newburgh I took up commerce and shipping 
as affected by the tariff; at Troy, manufactures with local 
illustrations; at Albany, the whole field; at Syracuse, 
salt; at Rochester, agriculture, and so on to the end of 
the chapter. At Albany my meeting was held in the 
house of representatives, and Governor Hoffman and 
other state officers attended, and my speech was reported 
in the ' 'Argus' ' and afterwards was circulated as a cam- 
paign document. 



198 RKCOUvECTlONS OF A UFF/flME). 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Tariff Evii,s. 

The Onondaga Salt Company — Tyrants of Syracuse — Conspiracy at 
Albany — How the state was trapped — conspirators at Washing- 
ton — A new dodge — Good accomplished — Free-trade dinner — 
William Cullen Bryant — Tariff reform in Portland, Maine — Tariff 
in congress — Promises by Speaker Blaine — A winter in Wash- 
ington — Blaine's duplicity — Indignation of Garfield — Wind-up 
of the forty-second congress. 

My meeting at Syracuse was put last of all, as that 
was the home of the Onondaga Salt Company, and I did 
not care to enter the den of the lion until I was fully 
prepared. To make this preparation I went to Albany 
and made a study of the whole history of the Onondaga 
Salt Springs, and the history of the Onondaga Salt Com- 
pany, and from there I went to New York City to get at 
the manipulations of the market by the company in con- 
nection with the fisheries, etc. By the time I went to 
Syracuse, I knew the sinuosities of that gigantic monopoly 
as fully as Thomas Alvord himself, who for many years 
had represented the company in the New York legisla- 
ture, or Dennis McCarty, who was kept in congress to 
represent the company upon the ways and means com- 
mittee. I went to Syracuse "in-cog" a day in advance 
of my meeting, and in the guise of a visitor from the 
west went through the entire works of the company, and 
interviewed the officials until I received a full set of their 
annual reports. 

My meeting was on the evening of September 30, 1870, 
and the rain poured in torrents, and the audience was 



TARIFF EVILS. 199 

small, but the magnates of the company were out, and I 
had a fair chance to challenge contradiction. I had 
agreed in New York to furnish a full report of my 
speech for the "Evening Post," and worked all night to 
prepare it, so that on the second day of October, 1870, 
I presented to the people of the state, in the "New 
York Evening Post" an expose of the salt monopoly 
which was as startling as it was new. It was headed 
"The Tyrants of Syracuse," and was widely published, 
and several years after furnished the data on which Sena- 
tor Blair, of Missouri, succeeded in reducing the duty on 
salt one- half. 

As a typical specimen of the thousand and one tariff 
monopolies which came into being under the ' 'protection 
system" inaugurated by the Morrill tariff bill of 1861, 
and intensified from time to time until it culminated into 
the McKinley bill of 1890, it maybe well to give an 
abstract of its history and methods, as I discovered and 
published them in 1870. 

It should be remembered that up to the time of the 
war, and for some years afterwards, the salt springs of 
Syracuse were substantially the sole source for the sup- 
ply of salt in New York and the Atlantic States. From 
the very commencement the people of New York saw 
that salt was a prime necessity of life, almost as much as 
air and water, and therefore they resolved that salt 
should be as nearly free of cost as it was possible to make 
it. Therefore they prohibited in the constitution of the 
state the sale of salt lands, and reserved them as a per- 
petual heritage for all, and resolved that they should 
never pass into the hands of a monopoly. Some, seeing 
that a revenue could be derived from salt, for the state, 
counseled a lease of the lands to the highest bidder, but 
the state said, No, we will not make money from the 
necessity of our people. 



200 RECOIJ.KCTIONS OF A XJFF/TIMK. 

In this generous spirit the state delivered the brine to 
all comers, and received from each a small amount per 
bushel of salt manufactured. This amount was intended 
to be enough to keep the works in repair and no more. 
As the works grew this duty was lowered from time to 
time, until it reached the small amount of one cent a 
bushel. In this way not only the people of New York, 
but all surrounding states, had cheap salt. The manu- 
facturers made a fair profit, and everybody was satisfied. 

In this way things went on until 1859, when Satan en- 
tered the heart of somebody, and a scheme was invented 
to thwart the wise and benevolent policy of the state. 
At any rate, I found that in 1859 a law had been placed 
upon the statute book of New York which forbade the 
superintendent of the Salt Reservation "from furnish- 
ing brine to any other, or to new works, until the 
quantity raised and distributed by the state shall be suffi- 
cient for fully supplying all the existing works through 
the manufacturing season. ' ' 

Contemporaneously with this transaction, or rather 
slightly antedating it, I found, by examination of the rec- 
ords of the state at Albany, that a company was organized 
at Syracuse, and received its papers of incorporation on the 
14th of April, 1858, its capital stock was seven hundred dol- 
lars, in three hundred and fifty shares of two dollars each. 
It was to continue for one year. Its name was ' 'The On- 
ondaga Fine Salt Company. ' ' 

A year later I found this company renewed for one 
year more, dating from the 1st of May. A year later I 
found this company out of existence, but in its place ap- 
peared another company under the name of "The Salt 
Company of Onondaga," with a capital stock of one hun- 
dred and sixty thousand dollars and a lease of life for ten 
years. 

Doubtless, by this time, the suspicion dawns upon the 



TARIFF KVII.S. 20 1 

mind that there was some connection between this com- 
pany and the legislation I have quoted. Coming to 
Syracuse, we find the "Salt Company of Onondaga" in 
possession of all "the existing salt works." By pur- 
chase or lease it had secured every one of them, and at 
once we can see the meaning of the act of the legislature 
of 1859. It meant monopoly in the garb of the Onon- 
daga Salt Company. This is evident enough when we 
know the additional fact that the "existing works" 
were able to use up more brine than the state could sup- 
ply, and the existing works meant "The Salt Company 
of Onondaga," which had an absolute bar against all 
comers, new or old. 

The next thing we notice in connection with this salt 
business is the Morrill Tariff Bill, of 1861, when we find 
a duty of four cents a bushel imposed upon salt. Six 
months afterwards, in August, 1861, we find the duty 
increased to twelve cents a bushel, but apparently this 
was not high enough to be entirely prohibitory, and 
therefore a few months later the duty was increased to 
eighteen cents per hundred pounds upon salt in bulk, 
and twenty-four cents per hundred pounds upon salt in 
bags. This did the business, for aside from a small 
amount of fine I/iverpool salt for dairy purposes, not a 
pound was imported, and the government received no 
revenue whatever from its duty on salt. 

The stockholders of the salt company were happy, for 
they now had not only the sole privilege of making salt, 
but also the absolute control of its sale. Salt at once 
jumped up from twenty cents a bushel to forty- two cents 
and upwards. How profitable this was to the stock- 
holders is indicated by the dividends declared, which 
were as follows: March, 1862, twelve and one-half per 
cent; April 23, per share (of $2.00) $1.25; September 
18, per share $1.25; September 27, $1.25 per share; Oc- 



202 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

tober 4, $1.25 per share; October 11, $2.50 per share, and 
so on to the end of the chapter. 

Of course, with annual dividends of several hundred 
per cent, it would be important to keep the fact from the 
public, so about a year later, the stock of the company 
was increased to three hundred and twenty thousand 
dollars, the increase of which was all water. As matters 
turned out, however, the profits increased to such an 
enormous extent that reasonable dividends on a small 
capital stock as three hundred and twenty thousand dol- 
lars was out of the question. Unfortunately for them, 
however, before any further dilution was effected, Com- 
missioner David A. Wells, of the United States Treasury, 
came around, and under the powers granted him he 
made an examination of the Onondaga Salt Company, 
and reported the astonishing fact that in five years the 
Onondaga Salt Company, on a capital stock of $160,000, 
distributed profits to the amount of $5,858,000, being an 
annual average of $837,000. 

Of course, this exposure could not be otherwise than 
damaging, and some noise was made about it in con- 
gress and elsewhere, but with a member of the company 
upon the ways and means committee in congress, and an- 
other speaker of the house of representatives in the legis- 
lature at Albany, nothing was done, and for nearly ten 
years longer the company coined money for its stock- 
holders like a mint. 

However, after the expose by Commissioner Wells, the 
company took steps to guard against another examina- 
tion, and again watered their stock up to $1,250,000, but 
this was not big enough to reduce sufficiently the ap- 
parent size of dividends, and so . they devised a new 
scheme to deceive the public. This I discovered at Al- 
bany. In my examination of the books of the secretary 
of state, I found, under date of September 30, 1868, 



TARIFF KVII.S. 203 

that an entirely new company had been incorporated un- 
der the name of "The Onondaga Salt Company, '"with a 
capital stock of $640,000. 

The company we have been talking about was ' 'The 
Salt Company of Onondaga," and as it controlled all the 
brine that could be delivered, it was evident the new 
company was a child of the old to make a show of mod- 
erate dividends. This fact I charged upon the company 
in my Syracuse speech, and it was never denied. In 
fact, no reply was ever attempted to any of my state- 
ments. This robbery of the government and the people 
by The Salt Company of Onondagaga went on for years 
until Senator Blair, of Missouri, as I have already stated, 
brought my revelations to the attention of the senate 
and had the duty on salt reduced one- half . In the mean- 
time, the salt springs of Michigan, West Virginia, 
Louisiana, and elsewhere were developed, and competi- 
tion soon reduced the price of salt to its normal con- 
dition. 

This was about the only visible outcome for good that 
I have been able to discover for my antitariff campaign. 
To have been the St. George of the salt dragon was 
something, and if I did nothing more, I think my labors 
were not in vain. The friends of the cause in New York 
seemed to think I had done good service, and at the 
free-trade dinner at Delmonico's, in November, at which 
William Cullen Bryant presided, I was given a seat of 
honor next to him, and he gave me gracious recognition 
in his opening address. 

During a dinner running for several hours there is 
large opportunity for conversation with one's neighbor, 
and I was very much interested and entertained by Mr. 
Bryant. I suggested that, with all the efforts for the 
cause of tariff reform, apparently we were not making 
much impression upon the general public. His reply 



204 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

was: "The results we seek may not be largely visible at 
present, but we are sowing good seed, which will germi- 
nate and bear fruit abundantly farther on. I may not 
live to participate in the victory, but you surely will if 
you live to the allotted age of man. Truth always tri- 
umphs in the end. ' ' 

Mr. Bryant was not only a great poet, but he was a 
great man in many other ways, and his greatest work, 
probably, was as an editor, in forming a wholesome pub- 
lic opinion upon all political questions. 

About this time (January 31, 1871), George Alfred 
Townsend, in a long letter to the "Chicago Tribune," 
wrote us up very handsomely, and from it I make a brief 
extract: 

"General Brinkerhoff is one of the two lecturers upon free-trade, 
operating upon the intelligence of the people directly through the 
medium of town meetings, under the auspices of the New York 
Free-trade League; the other lecturer being Professor Perry, of 
Williams College, who is a writer of approved standing upon polit- 
ical economy. Brinkerhoff and Perry were both selected by the 
League by reason of their high intellectual and social standing, 
and by the accident of their advanced position upon other sub- 
jects. Brinkerhoff, at the close of the war, lived at Mansfield, 
Ohio, where he was reckoned amongst the most kindly, manly and 
intelligent public men in the state. 

"He drew, before the war and after the war, many of the resolu- 
tions incorporated into the state platform of the Ohio Republicans, 
and when the war was done, looking about to discover matters 
which should be pertinent and essential for a revised party basis, 
he struck the great chord to which millions of people responded — 
that of making the taxes of the people more uniform and impar- 
tial, and ceasing to select particular interests, as more American 
than those of the masses. Amongst these was the question of a 
tariff for revenue only." 

In December, 1870, I went to Portland, Maine, in re- 
sponse to an invitation signed by a large number of lead- 
ing citizens, and it proved to be one of the largest and 



TARIFF KVIIvS. 205 

most interesting of my meetings. It was entirely non- 
partisan, and trie questions asked (which I always in- 
vited) were apparently prompted by an honest desire to 
get at the truth, and the interest of the audience did not 
seem to flag, although the meeting was protracted to the 
unconscionable length of two hours and a half. By this 
time, tariff reform had gained adherents in congress in 
both political parties. As yet, neither of the great 
parties had made the tariff a test of party fealty, and 
both were afraid of the question; but naturally the 
friends of tariff reform preponderated largely in the 
Democratic Party, and the friends of protection in the 
Republican Party. 

In the congress quite a number of Republicans were 
tariff reformers, especially in the house, and among them 
were such as Garfield, of Ohio; Allison, of Iowa; Finkel- 
burg, of Missouri; and others, and there were enough of 
them to compel recognition in the election of a speaker, 
and the appointment of committees. In fact, by com- 
bining with the Democrats, they could elect a speaker, 
but of course this would be a last resort. 

Mr. Blaine was a candidate for re-election for speaker 
of the incoming congress, and he soon discovered that he 
was likely to have opposition from the friends of tariff 
reform in his own party, and that it might be serious, 
and so he finally invited a private conference of free- 
traders in New York. 

Of course this conference was entirely secret. Mr. 
Blaine stopped at one hotel, and the tariff reformers, of 
whom I was one, were at another. We of the latter per- 
suasion appointed a committee of three to meet Mr. 
Blaine, which, if I remember correctly, consisted of 
William B. Allison, Horace White and Charles Nordhoff. 

After a conference, our committee reported that Mr. 
Blaine was willing to agree that in case he was permitted 



206 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

to be re-elected speaker without opposition in his own 
party, he would agree that a majority of the ways and 
means committee should be tariff reformers, and that its 
chairman should be a tariff reformer satisfactory to us, 
and desired us to name him. 

This proposition of Mr. Blaine was quite a surprise 
to all of us, and of course it was very satisfactory, and 
we accepted it, and named Garfield as our man for chair- 
man of the ways and means committee, and with this 
arrangement consummated, the conference came to an 
end, and Mr. Blaine had no farther opposition. 

The managers of the Free-Trade L,eague, however, 
felt that some one should be on hand at Washington 
City to look after legislation, and especially to see that 
the arrangements with Mr. Blaine were carried out 
properly, and so I was appointed to attend it. 

Under this arrangement I went to Washington early in 
January, 1871, and settled down for the winter. I rented 
the first floor of a house on F street, owned and occupied 
by Mrs. Henry Schoolcraft, widow of the famous eth- 
nologist and traveler among the Indians, and took my 
meals at the Kbbitt House. From this time on to the 
end of the session of congress, and beyond to the final 
adjournment of the new congress, which commenced on 
the fourth of March and continued until the last of the 
month, my rooms were a kind of headquarters for the 
friends of revenue reform, and members of both parties 
in congress often met there for consultations upon tariff 
questions. 

I remember one such meeting in particular, held near 
the close of the session, with a view to consultation in re- 
gard to the incoming congress. Among those present I 
remember the Republican members of the house were 
Garfield, Burchard, Hay, Finkelburg and General Asper; 
among the Democratic members were Kerr, Haldeman, 



TARIFF FVII.S. 207 

Marshall and Myers. Among the newspaper men 
present were Nordhoff, of the "New York Evening 
Post;" Horace White of the "Chicago Tribune;" George 
Alfred Townsend and Donn Piatt. 

We counted noses and felt sure of a majority in the 
new house. By this time I knew every member of the 
outgoing congress, and some of the new members just 
sworn in, and had made a careful study of their utter- 
ances and affiliations upon the questions of revenue re- 
form, and could predict their actions with a reasonable de- 
gree of certainty. 

One of the things we arranged for was to get a test 
vote by introducing a resolution under the Monday morn- 
ning rule upon a proposition to take the duty off of coal, 
salt and lumber. Under the Monday morning rule, any 
member who could get the floor could present his propo- 
sition, and call the previous question, and have a vote 
without debate, but he must get a two-thirds vote to se- 
cure its adoption. I took our proposed resolution in re- 
gard to free coal, salt and lumber to Hale, of Maine, and 
got him to father it, and then went to Mr. Blaine and 
asked him as a special favor to me to recognize Hale. 
Mr. Blaine very kindly consented, and sure enough on 
Monday morning Mr. Hale plumped his resolution into 
the house, and called for a vote. It was not debateable, 
but it was amendable, and Kelly, of Pennsylvania, a 
shrewd parliamentarian, seeing the trap set for the pro- 
tectionists, moved to amend by adding tea, coffee and 
sugar, which were purely revenue duties. 

Our free-traders of course ought to have voted this 
amendment down, but some of them through want of 
courage, or want of knowledge, voted aye and the 
amendment was adopted, and the resolution finally passed 
in that way, and went to the senate. 

We did not get all we expected out of it, but we did 



208 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

learn who could be relied upon in all emergencies, and 
we were fully assured that with a ways and means com- 
mittee, and Garfield to lead it, we could control the house 
in favor of revenue reform. We were entirely correct in 
our calculations provided Speaker Blaine kept faith with 
us, but unfortunately he did not, and we were left in the 
cold. 

Blaine was slow in announcing his committees, and 
many days passed by without definite action. I saw him 
frequently, but did not press him as I knew he had a 
difficult task. At last one day, when the house was in 
session, Blaine saw me on the floor, and sent a page with 
a note asking me to meet him in the hall. He then 
called some one to the chair, and as he went out of the 
south door I went out of the north door, and went around 
and met him. He took me down to the basement and 
into a room he called his den. He then locked the door 
and went to a cupboard and brought out some refresh- 
ments, and we sat down at a little table. 

After awhile he told me he wanted to talk with me 
about the ways and means committee, and to ask my 
opinion in regard to a cast of a commiitee that was in his 
mind. He took a pencil and a slip of paper from a 
drawer and wrote down nine names and then turned it 
around for me to read. I saw that he kept his finger on 
the paper, and that he did not intend to let me take it 
away, and so I took a little time to study its make up, 
and get it clearly in my memory. I saw at a glance that 
he was not carrying out his agreement, because Dawes 
was at the head, as chairman, and not Garfield. I saw 
also as I looked over the list that a majority of the com- 
mittee were not revenue reform men, although it was a 
combination calculated to deceive any one not fully 
posted on individual records. 

That a breach of faith was meditated was evident 



TARIFF KVII.S. 209 

enough, but just what to do about it was not so evident, 
and so I asked questions to gain time as well as informa- 
tion. I asked him why Dawes instead of Garfield was 
at the head. That is what I want to talk about es- 
pecially, for I find it will make trouble to give Garfield 
the chairmanship, and it seems to me that Dawes is 
sufficiently in harmony with you people to be satis- 
factory, and the very fact that he is not an extreme man 
will be an advantage to you in the house. Garfield, he 
said, had not had sufficient service on the committee to 
entitle him to promotion over old members like Kelley 
and Dawes. "Why," he said, "Kelley would take a fit 
if I put Garfield ahead of him. ' ' Possibly, that may be 
so, I said, but you knew that just as well when we were 
in New York as you do now, and I am very sure our 
people would not be willing to substitute Dawes for Gar- 
field in any event, for at heart he is not with us any 
more than Kelley. 

The fact was there were only four men in his list who 
were not protectionists, and after discussing the matter 
awhile he said this is not a finality by any means, it is 
simply "tentative" and I will make the committee so 
that it will be satisfactory. He repeated the word 
"tentative" two or three times, but I made up my mind 
at once that a ways and means committee satisfactory to 
the revenue reform people would never be made by Mr. 
Blaine, and so we parted after an hour's talk with the un- 
derstanding that he would see me again soon. As I 
went upstairs and on my way to the telegraph office I 
met Garfield and said to him that I would like to talk to 
him about a matter in which he was interested. He said 
that he was in a hurry to meet an engagement, and asked 
if I could not wait until evening, when he would be at his 
house, and give me the evening if necessary, and so I ar- 
H 



2IO RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

ranged to meet him at 8 o'clock. I then went to the 
telegraph office and sent a message to Mr. Sands, in 
New York, informing him of the situation. 

In the evening I met Garfield, and he took me to his 
room up stairs, and asked what was the matter. I said 
everything is the matter, so far as the ways and means 
committee is concerned. In the first place, you will not 
be chairman, and, in the second place, the protectionists 
will have a majority. So far as I am concerned, he re- 
plied, you are mistaken, for Mr. Blaine has already ar- 
ranged with me for the chairmanship, and I am already 
preparing to remain in Washington so as to shape the 
committee work for the winter session. He said Mr. 
Blaine had written him a letter some time before assuring 
him of his selection as chairman. That is splendid, I said; 
let me see the letter. I can 't do that, he replied, for Mr. 
Blaine said that life was uncertain, and requested me to 
return the letter, which I did. I said to him, General, 
you may as well rent your house and go home, for you 
are not to be chairman of the ways and means commit- 
tee, and I told him the whole story of my interview with 
Mr. Blaine. He heard me to the end, and then, after 
walking back and forth across the room two or three 
times, he stopped and said (and I remember his exact 
words): "If Mr. Blaine does not appoint me chairman 
of the ways and means committee, he is the basest of 
men. ' ' 

Mr. Blaine did not appoint him, but Dawes was ap- 
pointed, and a majority of the committee were protec- 
tionists. How Mr. Blaine pacified Garfield I do not 
know. How Garfield could appoint Mr. Blaine his sec- 
retary of state, afterwards, I do not know. After Gar- 
field became President, I made up my mind to ask him 
those questions whenever I got an opportunity, but when 
I came to Washington, after Blaine became secretary of 



TARIFF FVIXS. 211 

state, Garfield was lying at the White House with Gui- 
teau's bullet in him, and I am still in the dark. Of 
course, Blaine and I were friends no longer, and I only 
met him in a formal way afterwards. Possibly, there 
may have been some explanation for Garfield's reconcilia- 
tion to Blaine, but I do not see how any explanation can 
be made for Mr. Blaine's treatment of the revenue reform 
friends. Mr. Blaine was my friend, and I was greatly 
attached to him, and for a time I think there were but 
few who had his confidence more fully, but duplicity I 
could not tolerate, and so we parted. 

I had been told in Maine that Mr. Blaine was slippery, 
and I am sorry to say that I am convinced that they told 
me the truth. Blaine was a very able man, and wonder- 
fully attractive, but, when the highest test of character 
came, he was "slippery." Garfield was a greater man 
and a better man, but, unfortunately, he lacked the 
stamina to stand up against political pressure. I^eft to 
himself, all of his instincts were for the right, but against 
pressure he was weak as water. If Garfield had lived 
to a second term, so as to be beyond the fear of party 
pressure, he would have been a great President, I think; 
but, unfortunately, the opportunity was denied him, and 
his defect of character in all probability caused his as- 
sassination. 

Roscoe Conkling I knew from his youth upwards. 
We were boys together at the Auburn Academy, and I 
knew every phase of his mental and moral make-up. He 
was strong where Garfield was weak, and when Garfield 
failed him he exploded like a bomb, and the conse- 
quences are a matter of history. They were both great 
men, but they both had a fatal weakness. However, 
"we are all miserable sinners," and I drop the curtain 
upon them both and upon Blaine also. Of all the states- 
men I have intimately known, and of whom I have writ- 



212 RBCOIylvKCTlONS OF A UFETIMK. 

ten in these memoirs, Salmon P. Chase was the noblest. 
He had his weakness, but his weakness was of the head 
and not of the heart. I try to be charitable to all, as I 
hope others will be charitable to me. 

The first session of the forty-second congress came to 
a close on the 20th of April, 1871, without accomplish- 
ing much of anything, not even a complete organization 
of its committees. For four months I had made a care- 
ful study of the methods, accomplishments and personnel 
of the forty-first and forty-second congresses. I pre- 
sume they were like other congresses — no better, no 
worse — but I must confess that my previous exalted 
idea of congressional wisdom was badly shattered. To 
find a member who really voted his sentiments, and had 
a sufficient courage of his convictions to disclose them, 
was, to say the least, exceedingly rare. 

The whole business of congress, to a large extent, it 
seemed to me, was a political juggle to maintain power, 
and speeches for the most part were not made to en- 
lighten the house, but to humbug constituences. I asked 
Garfield one day, after he had voted aye on a protection 
item in the tariff bill, how he reconciled his votes with 
his convictions. Oh, that is easy, he said. A large ma- 
jority of my constituents are protectionists, and I am 
simply a representative. 

At another time, when Judge Marshall, of Illinois, 
voted for the protection humbug of free tea, coffee and 
sugar, under the specious designation of a "free breakfast 
table," I asked why he, who was an ingrained and 
thoroughly educated free-trader, could support this 
baldheaded fraud of Judge Kelley. He hesitated a mo- 
ment, but at last he said: "To tell you the plain truth, 
general, it is because I am a coward." 

Of course legislation to a large extent, in the nature 
of things, is a matter of compromise and always will be, 



TARIFF EVII£. 213 

but still there are some things that ought never to be 
compromised. The more I have seen of legislators, the 
more I am convinced of the truth of the old maxim, 
"that the country that is least governed is the best gov- 
erned." There were some wise and true men in con- 
gress, and among them I always rated S. S. Cox, of 
New York, as a model for he was as true to his convic- 
tions as a needle to the pole, and he rarely made mis- 
takes. 

In the senate, Roscoe Conkling was one of the bravest. 
I rarely agreed with him, but I knew where to find him. 
He was as imperious as Caesar, and as proud as L,ucifer, 
but he was true to his word, and he never abandoned a 
friend to save himself. 

Mr. Lincoln is reported as saying that statesmanship 
consists in the ability to control and combine the mean- 
nesses of men so as to promote measures for the public 
good. I hardly think this is fair or true. On the con- 
trary, statesmanship seems to me the ability to convince 
and combine the ignorance of men so as to promote the 
public welfare. Still, upon the whole, I believe the in- 
sufficiencies of legislation grow out of selfishness and ig- 
norance rather than wickedness. 

Again, bad men are sometimes good legislators, al- 
though for reasons largely selfish, whilst on the other 
hand, good men are often bad legislators, though they 
think they are doing God service. After all the safety 
of a republic is in the intelligence and integrity of its 
people as a whole, who will not intentionally wrong 
themselves or tolerate wrong-doings in others. Where 
the people is king, we must educate the king. The 
"vox populi" is not always right, but it is always hon- 
est. For this reason I am a Democrat of the straightest 
sect, and for this reason I have sought to be an instructor 
of public opinion rather than a legislator. 



214 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Liberal Republican Movement. 

Beginnings in Missouri — Call for a national convention — The Cin- 
cinnati fiasco — Horace Greeley nominated — Events in Cincinnati 
— Mozart Hall convention — Fifth Avenue conference — Greeley 
campaign — Liberals in 1873 — Campaign in Ohio — Ohio Liberal 
newspaper established — The Tilden campaign — Interview with 
Mr. Tilden. 

During the winter of 1871-' 72 there was a good deal 
of talk among antitariff men in Washington in regard to 
the organization of a new party. In 1870, in the state 
of Missouri, there was a movement of dissatisfied Re- 
publicans, which was supported by the Democrats, which 
resulted in the formation of a party, which was known 
as the Liberal Party. This party put up a state ticket 
and elected it, and this success attracted the attention of 
other states, and the question arose as to the expediency 
of enlarging this party to national proportions. In 
Missouri the principal attraction of the liberal platform 
for dissatisfied Republicans, was a declaration in favor of 
tariff reform, and it seemed reasonable to conclude that 
what succeeded in Missouri might succeed elsewhere. 

The first step towards a national organization of lib- 
eral Republicans was taken at a mass convention held at 
Jefferson City, Missouri, January 24, 1872, in pursuance 
of a call made by the executive committee of the Repub- 
lican wing of the liberal party in that state. This con- 
vention put forth a declaration of principles, of which 
the two most important were demands for reconciliation 
between the North and South upon the basis of general 



THE UBERAI, REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. 215 

amnesty and enfranchisement, and a demand for tariff 
reform upon the basis of "a tariff for revenue only." 
The convention closed its proceedings by issuing a call 
for a national convention, to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
on the first Monday of May ensuing, and an executive 
committee was appointed with Colonel William M. Gros- 
venor, of St. I^ouis, as chairman. 

To Colonel Grosvenor more than to any other, and 
probably more than to all other persons, the liberal Re- 
publican Party owed its existence, both state and 
national. He was a man of great ability, and of tre- 
mendous energy, and these qualifications, together with 
his position as managing editor of the "St. I,ouis Demo- 
crat," made the movement a success. I became ac- 
quainted with Grosvenor at the time our first free-trade 
meeting was held in St. I^ouis, and some months later I 
spent two or three days with him, at his house in the 
suburbs of the city, where he was writing his great book 
entitled, "Does Protection Protect?" Grosvenor was an 
ideal leader for a political insurrection of any kind, and 
I became very much interested in him, and fully sympa- 
thized with his ideas and plans. 

When I was in Washington I met him frequently, and 
when it became apparent that there was no earthly hope 
in the Republican Party for tariff reform, the free-trade 
Republicans (and I was one of them) were ripe for rev- 
olution. The result was that Grosvenor as captain and 
I as first lieutenant went to work to marshal the liberal 
Republican forces, so as to make such a showing at Cin- 
cinnati that the Democratic Party would indorse our ac- 
tion and make a union battle against the Republicans 
for the presidency. 

Grosvenor had means from some source, probably from 
the friends of the cause in New York, and proceeded to 
work up a representation from the several states to the 



2l6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

proposed convention to be held at Cincinnati. Of course 
the press was used to the utmost, and there were a large 
number of newspapers friendly to the movement, and 
correspondence was instituted^ with sympathizers wher- 
ever they could be found, to distribute documents and 
secure local organization. In furtherance of this work 
I was requested to canvass the states of Ohio and Michi- 
gan, and I did so, spending several weeks in the work. 
It is unnecessary to go into details; but the results were 
that when the convention met in Cincinnati we had an at- 
tendance of seven hundred. Practically it was a mass 
convention rather than a delegate convention; but it was 
sufficiently representative to indicate a tremendous re- 
volt from the old party organizations. 

Unfortunately the call for the convention was not suffi- 
ciently explicit to exclude discordant elements, and as 
the convention was a mass convention, the weakest ele- 
ment in the movement was able to control, and the re- 
sult was the nomination of Horace Greeley, of New 
York. Mr. Greeley was a great man, and a good man; 
but to the friends of revenue reform he was the most ob- 
jectionable man who could have been selected, and the 
result was disastrous. 

Of all the defenders of protective tariff, Mr. Greeley 
had been the most conspicuous and the most violent, 
and however acceptable he might be in other directions, 
it was impossible to rally the free traders to his support 
with any large degree of unanimity. Then, again, he, more 
than any other man in America, had abused the Demo- 
cratic Party in previous years, and his conversion to 
Democratic ideas was too recent to bring the Democratic 
Party to his unanimous support. 

The liberal movement which culminated in the Cincin- 
nati convention was organized and supported almost en- 
tirely by the friends of revenue reform, and to be over- 



THE UBERAE REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. 21 7 

whelmed and captured by a horde of protectionists from 
New York was a sore disappointment. Except for the 
misjudgment of some of our friends, Mr. Greeley and 
his New York crowd would have been excluded. 

Carl Schurz, Colonel Grosvenor and I roomed at the 
St. James Hotel, and all the preliminary conferences of 
delegates w T ere held in an adjoining parlor, and the pre- 
liminaries of the convention were so arranged that Mr. 
Greeley would not have been a candidate if they had 
been carried out; but the committee appointed to carry 
out our program blundered, and the wooden-horse drama 
of old Troy was played over again, and the enemy tri- 
umphed. 

Believing that the friends of Charles Francis Adams 
were strong enough to nominate him in any event, they 
telegraphed a concession to Mr. Greeley, which he ac- 
cepted, and upon which the New York delegation came 
into the convention. 

I had finished my dinner at the St. James and was on 
my way to the Burnet House when, near the corner of Vine 
street, I met one of our friends hurrying to headquar- 
ters to advise us what had been done. He told me his 
story, and said the committee had adjourned for dinner. 
In three minutes I was at the Burnet House and went di- 
rectly to the diningroom, where I found our friends (I 
say friends, for they were such, although they made a 
fatal blunder), and asked if the story I had heard was 
true, and they said it was, and seemed to think it a very 
fine stroke of policy to secure the powerful support of 
the "New York Tribune" for our prospective candidate, 
by what they considered the harmless admission of the 
New York delegation to membership in the convention. 
I said to them at once: "Gentlemen, we are lost, and all 
our work is in vain. ' ' They could not see it in that 
light, and in any event it was too late to change front, 



2l8 RECOLLECTIONS OP A LIFETIME. 

and the result was a stultification of the whole move- 
ment by the nomination of Mr. Greeley; and so again 
the course of history was changed by the turning of a 
hand. 

I do not care to give the names of those who blundered, 
for, as Napoleon said: "A blunder sometimes is as bad as 
a crime. ' ' Mr. Greeley started with only one hundred and 
forty-seven ballots, but was finally nominated on the 
sixth ballot by a stampede of protectionists from the 
Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Indiana delegations, who had 
heretofore voted for Curtin, Trumbull, and Davis. When 
the nomination of Greeley was announced, George Hoadly 
(afterwards Governor Hoadly) and I were sitting to- 
gether, .and we at once rose to our feet, and left the con- 
vention, fully determined to have nothing more to do 
with it. We both knew that there was another conven- 
tion in session at Mozart Hall, only a few blocks away, 
which was distinctively a tariff reform convention, and 
was ready to indorse the nomination by the liberals of 
Charles Francis Adams. This convention represented 
eleven states and was presided over by Judge Rufus P. 
Ranney, of Cleveland, Hoadly was also a delegate to 
this convention, and I suggested to him that we go there 
at once and get it to nominate Adams and adjourn. 
Hoadly agreed, and we started for Mozart Hall, but 
after we had gone a block Hoadly concluded he would re- 
turn and see who was nominated for vice-president and 
then join me. 

When I arrived at Mozart Hall, I found the convention 
redhot with indignation at the nomination, and was dis- 
cussing the situation. As I came in some one (I think 
Judge Stallo, afterwards minister to Italy) offered a reso- 
lution to adjourn, subject to the call of the president, 
and argued that by a new call more states would be rep- 
resented than were then present. Clearly, the thing 



THE UBERAI, REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. 219 

to do was then and there to nominate Adams and appeal 
to the Democratic Party for co-operation, but as no one 
present seemed to appreciate the situation the motion 
carried. If Hoadly had gone with me to Mozart Hall, 
this action would not have been taken. Greeley would 
not have been nominated by the Democratic Party, and 
Adams, in all human probability, would have been Presi- 
dent. 

So again the course of history was changed by the turn 
of a hand. 

Notwithstanding the tremenduous blundering of the 
Cincinnati convention, there were still elements of 
strength in it to attract a large following. Incongruous 
as Mr. Greeley was as a representative of tariff reform, 
he certainly was the most conspicuous of Republicans 
opposing a policy of vengeance against the conquered 
South. He saw clearly that with the abolition of slavery 
the causes of war had ceased to exist, and believed that 
a policy of conciliation and generosity was better than 
oppression, and he had the courage to advocate it. In 
this spirit he had bailed Jeff. Davis when under an in- 
dictment for treason, and boldly advocated in the "Tri- 
bune' ' a policy of peace and good- will between the sec- 
tions as the highest statemanship. In doing this, he al- 
most ruined the financial prosperity of the "Tribune," 
and evoked a cyclone of opposition from the Republican 
Party. 

Thousands of Republicans sympathized with Mr. 
Greeley in his policy of conciliation, and of course all 
the Democrats, and, therefore, under the circumstances, 
after his nomination by the Cincinnati convention, he 
seemed to be the most available rallying point for the ele- 
ments of opposition to the Republican Party. Of course, 
for a time, those of us who were tariff reformers, were 
greatly dissatisfied, but the more we thought about it, 



220 RECOIXKCTIONS OF A UPTIME. 

the more we became convinced that the best course left 
us was to side-track the tariff and make the presidential 
fight for the policy of conciliation with Greeley as its 
prophet. 

With a view to considering the matter in all its bear- 
ings, a conference of representative tariff reformers was 
called to a meeting at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, in New 
York. The conference, of course, was private, but it 
comprised the leaders of the liberal movement, and all 
the phases of the situation were considered. By this 
time, distasteful as it was, I had made up my mind that 
our best policy was to support Mr. Greeley, but for a time 
the drift of opinion in the conference was against it; but 
finally, late at night, Carl Schurz, who was chairman of 
the conference, made the closing speech in favor of Mr. 
Greeley's indorsement, and a resolution to that effect was 
almost unanimously adopted. I had heard Mr. Schurz 
often, both in the senate and out of it, but I think this 
was the ablest effort I have ever heard from him. I 
often wish it could have been reported, but its effect was 
to carry the conference, and this action carried with it 
the indorsement of Mr. Greeley by the Democratic con- 
vention at Baltimore. 

The wisdom of our action I have never doubted. Mr. 
Greeley was defeated, but the fiendish ferocity of the Re- 
publican Party was halted, and from that time to the 
present the policy of repression has steadily retreated, 
until at present it is practically a thing of the past. 

The Fifth Avenue convention probably will not be no- 
ticed in history, but nevertheless it was an important 
factor, and without its action the Baltimore convention, in 
all probability, would not have indorsed Mr. Greeley as 
its presidential candidate. 

During the Greeley campaign, the liberal Republicans 
of Ohio supported Mr. Greeley, but they preserved their 



THE LIBERAL REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. 221 

own separate organization, and I was chairman of the 
state executive committee. We co-operated with the 
Democratic Party, but did not merge ourselves into that 
organization. In fact, the liberal Republicans generally 
did not join the Democratic Party until 1876, when, un- 
der the leadership of Samuel J. Tilden, the Democratic 
Party committed itself fully to the doctrine of tariff re- 
form. 

During the Greeley campaign, I visited nearly every 
county in the state to strengthen our local organizations, 
and at our headquarters in Columbus we had the names 
and post-office addresses of about ten thousand liberal 
Republicans. Mr. Greeley failed of his election, not be- 
cause of want of support from dissatisfied Republicans, 
but from the refusal of a large percentage of disgruntled 
Democrats to support him. We called them "Moss- 
backs," and their absence from the polls defeated Mr. 
Greeley. When Mr. Greeley took his famous trip through 
the states, I joined his party at Hamilton and accompa- 
nied him through Ohio, and after we parted at Ashtabula 
I never saw him again. He was a wonderful man in 
many ways. For two days I listened to his speeches 
from the rear end of his car, and they were simply mar- 
velous in their completeness, and I doubt if they have 
ever been equaled. In this judgment, the reporters of 
the great daily newspapers, who were with us, fully 
agreed. 

It was early morning when we reached Ashtabula. It 
was raining lightly, and the people were not advised of 
our coming. I shook hands with Mr. Greeley at the rear 
end of his car and bade him good-bye, and as the car 
rolled out into the mist he stood alone on the platform, 
and as he faded away into the distance I thought I had 
never seen so complete a personification of peace and 
good-will to men; and that vision of Horace Greeley, in 



222 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

his light overcoat, under a soft white hat, has remained 
with me as a pleasant memory from that day to this. 
The more I saw of Mr. Greeley, the better I liked him, 
and, aside from his tariff heresies, I heartily sympa- 
thized with his political ideas. He wrote me frequently 
during the campaign, and was hopeful to the end; but 
he was defeated, and the mental strain was more than he 
could endure, and his career came to its sudden and piti- 
ful ending. 

As I have already said, the liberals, in 1872, did not 
amalgamate with the Democrats, but co-operated by sup- 
porting Mr. Greeley, after he had been nominated at Bal- 
timore by the Democrats. As chairman of our state ex- 
ecutive committee, I kept the organization well in hand, 
and kept it apart by itself, with a view to future useful- 
ness. I have never known, in my time, a political or- 
ganization more patriotic, intelligent, or unselfish, than 
the liberal Republican Party of Ohio. We asked noth- 
ing for ourselves, and sought for nothing but what we 
earnestly believed was for the public good. 

The old party managers, finding that the liberal vote 
was not a purchasable quantity, turned in to abuse and 
villify us, and Republican and Democratic newspaper or- 
gans opened their batteries upon us all along the line. 
As a matter of self defense, I proposed to some of our 
friends that we should pool in a little money and run a 
weekly journal of our own, at least, during the coming 
campaign, and that I would edit it without compensation. 
This suggestion was approved, and a newspaper called 
"The Ohio liberal" was started, with a capital stock of 
$1,000.00 in shares of $10.00 each. We expected, of 
course, to sink that amount and quit, but, to our sur- 
prise, "The Ohio Liberal" paid its expenses from the 
beginning, and we made it hot for our enemies, and ac- 
complished a valuable educational work. As I was not 



THE UBERAE REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. 223 

then engaged in active business, I gave my time almost 
exclusively to editorial and political work during that 
year, until after the election in October. Among other 
things, a liberal state convention was called, which met 
at Columbus on the 3d of July, and put in nomination a 
state ticket, with Judge Isaac Collins, of Cincinnati, at 
the head of it for governor. The leading planks of our 
platform were: "A tariff for revenue only; a non-partisan 
civil service; home rule, as opposed to centralization; and 
a strict accountability, and a more rigid economy, in 
the administration of public affairs. Our opponents 
called us "fusionists" and ' 'soreheads," and various 
other complimentary names, but, nevertheless, we polled 
over ten thousand votes in the state, and demonstrated 
our right to live and be heard. 

At the close of the campaign I accepted the position 
as cashier of the Mansfield Savings Bank, which my 
friend, M. D. Harter, and I had organized during the 
summer. We opened the bank, October 15, 1873, and I 
have been associated with it ever since — first as cashier, 
then as vice-president, and president. "The Ohio lib- 
eral," in the meantime, became my property, and I put 
my son Robert in charge of it for a time, and then em- 
ployed a manager for it. In this way I continued until 
Samuel J. Tilden was nominated for President, to whom 
the "liberal" gave its support. 

After the Tilden campaign was over, and Mr. Tilden 
was cheated out of his election, I sold out the " liberal " 
office and good- will, and, after running some years as an 
independent paper, it was purchased and absorbed by the 
"Mansfield News." The "liberal" did a good work in 
its day and generation, and I have always been proud of 
it. What it did and how it was conducted can be seen 
by consulting its files in the Memorial Library, where I 



224 RKCOIXECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

have left them for the edification of any one who cares to 
consult them. 

The files of the ' 'Mansfield Herald" for the four years 
of my control, as well as those of the "Liberal," are in 
the Memorial Library, and are the only Mansfield papers 
of those periods that have been preserved, so far as I 
know. The files of the "Shield and Banner" for the 
many years of John Y. Glessner's ownership, were de- 
stroyed by fire, and those of the "Herald, " before my time, 
were not preserved; so that the eight years of my news- 
paper career are the only continuous records of Mans- 
field history during those years. During those years I 
also collected and published in my papers the pioneer his- 
tory of the county, which otherwise would have been ir- 
retrievably lost. 

With the nomination of Samuel J. Tilden for Presi- 
dent in 1876, the liberal Republicans of Ohio were en- 
tirely satisfied, and heartily supported him. To me, the 
nomination of Mr. Tilden was a surprise. The Democratic 
Party had been floundering in the doldrums so long that I 
had almost ceased to expect from it any return to politi- 
cal sanity. 

Some months before this event I was in Columbus, and 
called upon my old friend General Hayes, who was then 
governor, and who was also a prospective candidate for 
the Republican Party. In our conversation he asked me 
what I thought of the political outlook. I said to him 
that I thought his chances for the nomination very 
promising, and I felt very sure if he could hold the Ohio 
delegation until the third or fourth ballot, he would 
surely get it. His reply was that he could hold his dele- 
gation, but he had no expectations of sufficient support 
from other states to carry him through. I assured him 
I had no doubt as to the action of other states if Ohio 
stood by him as a unit. I assured him also that if 



THE LIBERAL REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. 225 

nominated, the liberal Republicans, under existing con- 
ditions, would very generally support him; certainly I 
would do so unless the Democratic Party should have a 
streak of sanity, which I did not expect, and nominate 
Samuel J. Tilden. He laughed and said that I was 
likely to be a political orphan, for the chances were 
that neither he nor Tilden would be nominated. How- 
ever, as the weeks rolled by both were nominated, and 
I was at home again in the Democratic fold. 

I had met Mr. Tilden two or three times, at political 
conferences during the Greeley campaign, but never in 
such a way as to form any definite idea as to his personal 
characteristics. I knew his political record well, for he 
belonged to the old democracy of New York with which 
my father was affiliated, and of which Martin Van 
Buren, Silas Wright and Wm. I,. Marcy were the lead- 
ing exponents, and of course all my traditions were 
friendly to him. 

Soon after his nomination, I had occasion to go to New 
York City on my way to the Centennial Exposition at 
Philadelphia. My daughters were with me and we stopped 
off at Saratoga for a few days, and then went on to 
Albany to take the steamer down the Hudson. The day 
boat did not leave until the next morning, so we went 
to the Delevan House with a view to such sight-seeing 
during the day as the city might afford. 

At that time William Dorsheimer, whom I knew very 
well, was lieutenant governor of the state. His father 
had been in congress with my kinsman, Judge Jacob 
Brinkerhoff , and as Democratic free-soilers their relations 
were very cordial, and I had known him for a number of 
years, and had visited his family in Buffalo. 

Now that I was in Albany, I concluded to call upon 
Mr. Dorsheimer, and for that purpose went to his office 
15 



226 RECOU,E)CTlONS OF A UFF/TIMF. 

in the state house. However, I did not find him as he 
was out of the city, but in passing through the building, 
I noticed upon one of the doors the name of John D. 
Van Buren, Jr., state engineer. As I had known his 
father, I went in and introduced myself. He seemed 
pleased to see me and invited me to go with him and call 
upon the secretary of state, Hon. John Bigelow. Mr. 
Bigelow had been the managing editor of the "New 
York Evening Post" when I met him. He seemed very 
much interested in my report of the political situation in 
Ohio, and urged me to call upon Governor Tilden in the 
evening, who would be at home at that time, after an 
absence of some days, and proposed that he and Mr. Van 
Buren would go with me. 

This invitation I was 'glad to accept, and after a 
pleasant afternoon visiting places of interest in the 
city, Mr. Bigelow and Van Buren called for me at the 
Delevan House, and we went to the governor's mansion. 
Mr. Tilden received us cordially, and after half an hour's 
talk with him we arose to go. He went with us to the 
hall door and there said to me that he was much inter- 
ested in my views of the political outlook, and he would 
be greatly obliged if I would stay and spend the even- 
ing with him. He said he had been with his brother for 
several days, who was very ill, and it would be a relief 
to him to have some one to talk to. Such an invitation 
from a presidential candidate, and possible President, was 
not to be refused, and so I stayed with him until nearly 
midnight. 

Mr. Tilden was certainly a very remarkable man, and 
in some respects a phenominal man. In his knowledge 
of American politics and of the men and measures con- 
nected therewith, I have never known his equal. At that 
time I thought I knew Ohio politics about as well as any 
man in the state; but I found in comparison with Mr. 



THE UBERAI, REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. 227 

Tilden I was a pigmy. His information of men and 
measures was not only vast and minute, but I judge lie 
had it tabulated and filed away by his secretaries for 
ready reference. At any rate, he took me to his library 
and showed me how he kept track of his own state. In 
New York he seemed to have made it his business, in po- 
litical campaigns, to deal with individual workers of his 
party in each locality, rather than with party committees. 
By this personal attention each man felt complimented, 
and would naturally be more interested in his welfare. Of 
course this method required a large correspondence, but 
it was a work his secretaries could do for the most part, 
and the results were a popularity for Mr. Tilden among 
the rank and file of his party, that few men have equaled. 
In leaving Mr. Tilden, I expressed my appreciation of 
the pleasant evening I had spent with him, and said that 
I had only one favor to ask of him and that was that he 
should take good care of his health, for I thought he 
would be our next President, and I wanted him to live 
through his term of ofiice, and carry out the policies he 
had indicated to me. He laughed and said he had about 
closed his term of ofiice as governor of New York with- 
out impairment, and that, he was sure, was a more try- 
ing ordeal than the presidency of the United States. 
"However," he said, "it is a task I do not covet, and did 
not seek. I had planned to retire from public life and 
spend the remainder of my days at my home on the 
Hudson. I have seen enough of public life to know how 
unsatisfying it is. Aside from a sense of duty dis- 
charged to the state, it is vanity and vexation of spirit. 
Supposing I should be President for four years, or even 
eight years, what would it amount to me personally? It 
would be so many j^ears of vexatious work, and unlimited 
partisan abuse, and then in history, a hundred years 
hence, about all that would be known about me would be 
a few inches of space in the biographical dictionaries." 



228 RECOIXECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

In conclusion, he was cheerful in the thought that the 
triumph of the policies he represented ought to be a joy 
to every citizen, and it certainly would be a joy to him 
if he could aid in bringing it about. As I shook hands 
with Mr. Tilden and passed out into the night, never to 
see him again, I felt that of all men he was the best man 
for the presidency at that time, and I think so yet. 
That he was elected and ought to have been inaugurated, 
is now, I think, generally conceded. I have said else- 
where that he was ' 'cheated out of his election." That 
expression perhaps may be too strong, for it is possible 
that those who brought it about were so blinded by par- 
tisan prejudice that they thought they were doing God's 
service in excluding him. One of the judges of the 
United States District Court said to me, not long after 
that, that Mr. Tilden was probably elected, but to allow 
the Democratic Party to come into power at that time 
was too dangerous to be thought of. 

After assenting to a tribunal to arbitrate the matter of 
Mr. Tilden' s election, there was nothing to do but to 
submit to its conclusions. I have never blamed Mr. 
Hayes for accepting its award. Not to have done so 
would have probably inaugurated a civil war, worse than 
the war of the rebellion. It was a pity that so good a 
man as Hayes should feel compelled to discharge the 
duties of an office to which he must have felt that its 
title to him, to say the least, was very doubtful. 

After his retirement from the presidency, the career 
of General Hayes was more creditable than that of 
any other ex-president. I was associated with him 
intimately for nearly ten years, as vice-president of the 
National Prison Association, of which he was president, 
and in other philanthropic work, and I am glad to 
testify that his services were of the highest value. Of 
this period I shall have more to say hereafter. 



HISTORY, BANKING AND GSNKAI^OGY. 229 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
History, Banking and Gknealogy. 

Pioneers of Ohio — Ohio Archselogical Society — Objects of the 
society — Life as a banker — Mansfield Lyceum — Genealogy — 
Local History — Beecher trial. 

The pioneer history which I had been gathering, as 
opportunity offered, for twenty years, and much of 
which I had published in the "Herald" and "liberal," 
was finally, in i88o-'8i, aggregated, arranged and pub- 
lished in a large volume, under the supervision and 
editorship of A. A. Graham, the secretary of the Ohio 
Historical Society. 

It was a costly luxury for me, as the expenses far out- 
ran the receipts, but nevertheless early history was pre- 
served, and my duty to the pioneers was fully discharged. 
In fact, so far as my knowledge extends, the early an- 
nals of Richland county have been preserved as fully and 
as accurately as those of any other county in the state. 
A century hence this fact will be more fully recognized 
than it is now, and the value of my work will be appre- 
ciated. At any rate, I have had the satisfaction of can- 
celing whatever indebtenness I may have had to the 
generation which preceded me in the obligations to pre- 
serve a record of what it accomplished. Some one said 
that "He who fails to commemorate the deeds of his 
ancestors deserves to be forgotten himself. ' ' 

"History is philosophy teaching by example," and 
without history there can be no progress. Therefore it 
is incumbent upon us not only to make history, but also 



230 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

to preserve it. If creditable, it is an inspiration; if dis- 
creditable, it is a warning; and in either event, it is 
helpful. 

The causes of events in Ohio history are an interesting 
and instructive study, and for generations to come no 
one will be able to understand fully existing institutions 
without a thorough knowledge of the first half of the 
present century, for the spirit of the pioneers will remain 
and their image and superscription will be visible so long 
as Ohio shall continue as a social and political entity. 

My study of pioneer history, very naturally, led me 
into the study of all that could be ascertained in regard 
to the Indian tribes driven out by the pioneers, and also 
all that could be ascertained in regard to the races that 
antedated the Indians, and whose existence is manifested 
all over Ohio, by mounds, earthworks and implements of 
stone. I cannot remember when I was not interested in 
archaeology, but my contact with Ohio pioneers and their 
collections of prehistoric relics, intensified that interest, 
and led me into the organization of what is now known 
as the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Association. 

It so happened that in the early summer of 1875 the 
state conference of Congregationalists was held in Mans- 
field, and in the entertainment of delegates four were 
assigned to me, and among them the Reverend S. D. 
Peet, pastor of a church at Ashtabula, Ohio. I soon 
discovered that Mr. Peet was in hearty sympathy with 
me in archaeological investigations, and that he had de- 
voted a good deal of time and study to Ohio archaeology, 
and had visited a large number of mounds and other 
earthworks, and was acquainted with a good many col- 
lectors. 

We mutually agreed that something ought to be done 
to secure a systematic examination of the prehistoric re- 
mains of Ohio, with a view to their preservation, and I 



HISTORY, BANKING AND GENEALOGY. 23 1 

proposed a call for a state convention of archaeologists, 
and agreed to issue and work it up if he would arrange a 
program and secure the necessary papers and speakers. 
This was agreed upon and I prepared a call, and issued 
circulars, and wrote up the subject for the newspapers, 
and the result was that we convened a convention at 
Mansfield, which met on the ist day of September, 1875, 
and we had an attendance of about fifty, among whom 
were quite a number of the leading archaeologists of the 
state. 

The conference continued two days, and was in all re- 
spects a success, and resulted in the organization of 
"The State Archaeological Association of Ohio," of 
which I was elected president, and which has continued 
until the present. 

In 1876, an appropriation of $2,500.00 was given to 
the association to make an archaeological exhibit at the 
Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, and in which 
Ohio eclipsed all other states, and was second only to the 
Smithsonian collection. Subsequently, for several years, 
annual meetings of the association were held at various 
places in the state, where prehistoric remains could be 
examined, and a permanent interest has been aroused. 
The association was subsequently incorporated as the 
"Ohio Archaeological and Historical Association," and 
its annual reports and other publications show what it 
has accomplished. It is now under state patronage, and 
seems likely to be permanent and increasingly useful. I 
am a life member of the society, and during its entire 
history have been either president, vice-president, or a 
member of its board of trustees. At its annual meeting, 
in 1892, General Hayes was elected president, and died 
in the month of January following. At our annual 
meeting, in February, 1893, I was elected to succeed 
him, and have since been annually re-elected. 



232 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Our society has done a very important work, and has 
steadily grown in strength and usefulness. Our museum 
in Orton Hall at the state university contains a collection 
of prehistoric relics numbering over 50,000. We have 
also secured, as the permanent property of the state, the 
two most famous monuments of the mound builders, 
Fort Ancient and the Serpent Mound. The first is in 
Warren county and comprises an area of 260 acres of 
land, and the latter in Adams county, 58 acres. 

The following extract from my address of welcome, at 
Mansfield, to the delegates indicates the objects aimed at 
by the proposed association: 

"Our object in instituting this convention is to bring about such 
an organization and such co-operation as will induce every county 
to collect and to concentrate and contribute to a common fund 
whatever can be gleaned within its borders upon archaeological 
subjects. Ohio is rich in prehistoric remains. As much so, per- 
haps, as any state in the Union. It is estimated that of ancient 
mounds alone known to exist within our borders there are over 
ten thousand in number. There is, perhaps, no body of land of 
equal size upon this continent or even upon the globe which is 
better fitted for human habitation, support and enjoyment than 
this very State of Ohio. It has been so probably from the very 
beginning of the existence of the human family upon this planet. 
The prehistoric man knew a good country just as well as we do, 
hence he made Ohio and the Ohio valley the home of the teeming 
populations and the seat of empire. It was so then, it is so now, 
and it will continue to be so as long as the earth remains under 
existing conditions. It is meet, therefore, that the Ohio valley 
should take the lead in archaeological investigations. The field 
is richer than any other, and the harvest is riper, but the laborers 
are few. What we specially desire just now, and what we con- 
sider the most immediate and pressing work of this convention, is 
to secure laborers in this archaeological harvest. Let us gather 
the grain into the storehouses before it is utterly destroyed by the 
trampling hoofs of modern utilitarianism. Let us gather the 
grain first and leave to a leisurely future the more pleasant task of 
converting it into all desirable scientific uses. In short, we want 
a relic hunter in every county and township in the state who will 



HISTORY, BANKING AND GENEALOGY. 233 

bring to the knowledge of a central association, and through that 
association to the knowledge of the world at large, all the in- 
formation that his locality can. furnish upon archaeological sub- 
jects. This should be our first work. Energetic collecting, of 
course, does not exclude energetic thinking, and, therefore, con- 
temporaneously with the collector, the scientist is required to ar- 
range and classify and generalize and interpret; each one in the 
department specially assigned him. By this means we shall 
make progress, and it is the only way in which we can make much 
progress. 

"This co-operation, gentlemen of the convention, is what I con- 
ceive to be the main object of your assembling here to-day. Of 
course, the ultimate outcome of all this is far higher and nobler 
than the mere gathering of relics. Relics are only the letters of 
the archaeologist's alphabet, but, nevertheless, they are the indis- 
pensable beginning of all archaeological knowledge. What this 
knowledge will lead to, no one can tell; but still, now, as hereto- 
fore, in all the ages of the past, 'the noblest study of mankind is 
man. ' What are we ? Whence came we ? Whither are we tend- 
ing? These are the mighty questions which clamor for solution 
in the universal heart of man. It is true, we have a written revela- 
tion which answers these questions, and many of us, and perhaps 
all of us who are here to-day, believe that it answers them rightly, 
but still we admit that there is another gospel which, so far as its 
revelations extend, is more conclusively true to most persons than 
the other. The gospel of nature is a thing of the senses. It can 
be seen and felt and handled and tasted. It cannot be interpolated 
by deceitful or designing men to an extent beyond detection, and, 
therefore, if the gospel of nature comes in conflict with the gos- 
pel of revelation, the latter must go to the wall. It is inevitably 
so in the nature of things. 

' 'Now, for myself, I am free to confess to you that I believe in 
both these gospels. My happiness in the present, for the most part, 
and all my hopes for the future, are based on their truthfulness 
and their essential harmony. With faith shaken in either, existence 
becomes the saddest enigma of which it is possible to conceive. 
Nevertheless, let us have the truth, withersoever it may lead. If, 
then, we are to seek for truth in the line of human destiny, where 
can we search more hopefully than in the line of human experi- 
ence ? This is archaeology in its highest and noblest sense. 

' 'Archaeology, it is true, is but a single chapter in the gospel of 
nature, but it is so associated and correlated that its interpretation 



234 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

demands a mastery of all others. It is not the first, but the last. 
It is not the root, or the stem, or the branch, or the leaf, but the 
consummate flower of nature. It is the keystone of the mighty 
arch which the aeons of the infinite past have builded. In the 
temple of nature, therefore, archaeology is the inner sanctuary, 
and to-day, as we stand upon its threshold, let us do so reverently 
and in the spirit of Him who loosed the sandals from His feet be- 
cause the ground upon which He stood was holy ground. 

"Do I magnify mine office? Do I, as an archaeologist, overstate 
our mission ? Nay, verily, there is no higher theme than man and 
his destiny, and certainly the only way that science can prophesy 
man's destiny is by the study of man's history. What has been 
will be; but in the order of nature we may hope that it will be 
more abundant in all that is good. Let us then know all we can 
of man as he has been. The poet has said that, 

" 'We are the same our fathers have been; 

We see the same sights our fathers have seen; 
We drink the same stream and view the same sun, 
And run the same course our fathers have run. ' 

"Whether this be true or not, archaeology alone can interpret 
from the gospel of nature. This, then, oh friends, is the duty 
which lies before us to-day. It is to turn the leaves and study the 
records of this gospel of nature in its teachings of man; and in 
behalf of those who have convened this assembly, I bid you 
welcome." 

In 1866, I had left the volunteer service and declined 
an appointment in the regular army, with the settled de- 
termination to return to my profession as a lawyer as 
my life work, but I was switched off into politics and 
upon the lecture platform, and did not finally settle down 
into a law office until 1871, and then I soon discovered 
that the process of building up a law practice was a slower 
process than I had anticipated. However, I plodded 
along and began to make a start, when Michael D. 
Harter, who was my friend and near neighbor, proposed 
to start a bank if I would accept the position of cashier. 

I knew nothing of banking business and doubted my 



HISTORY, BANKING AND GENEALOGY. 235 

ability to succeed in that line, and for some months I 
hesitated, but finally, under his assurance that my large 
acquaintance would be an important factor in the enter- 
prise, I finally went in, with the understanding that it 
should be a life work, and that, in case Mr. Harter at 
any time should desire to withdraw, I should have the 
privilege of purchasing his interest at an agreed or an ap- 
praised value. We purchased a lot and put up a banking 
building, and commenced business on the 15th day of Octo- 
ber, 1873; and from that day to the present the Mansfield 
Savings Bank has been a prosperous institution. A 
dozen years after the opening of the bank, Mr. Harter 
transferred to me all his interest, except $1,000 of stock. 

My life as a banker has been a satisfaction in many 
ways, but mainly because it has enabled me to be at 
home and to command my time outside of regular bank- 
ing hours, so that I have had time for study and thought 
and active usefulness in many directions outside of mere 
money getting. In fact, my business as a banker has 
been a help rather than a hindrance in all forms of 
philanthropic work, for it has kept me in close contact 
with all classes of people, and enabled me to understand 
sociological conditions and requirements more thoroughly 
than it would have been possible in a profession or in 
any other business. In short, whatever I have been 
able to accomplish as a philanthropist has been largely 
due to the fact that a kind Providence has given me the 
opportunities that a banker's life has offered. 

I have never had an ambition to be rich. The attain- 
ment of riches, as a rule, dwarfs the higher faculties of 
a man, and when attained they are a vast temptation to 
their possessor, and a danger to his children, if he is so 
fortunate as to have children, and I am entirely satisfied 
in the realization of the prayer of Ager, "Give me neither 
poverty nor riches." 



236 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Banking, of all the forms of business with which I am 
acquainted, is the most dependent for success upon ab- 
solute honesty, and the result is that bankers are stimu- 
lated by the requirements of their occupation to habits 
of integrity, industry and a moral life, and any business 
that does this is not a bad one to follow. 

During the years that I have been the executive officer 
of a bank, there has rarely been a day in which we have 
not entrusted hundreds, and sometimes thousands of 
dollars to other bankers, without the scratch of a pen, 
and without any knowledge of their standing except that 
they were reported as bankers, and during that time 
I cannot recall half a dozen instances in which any loss 
has been sustained. Certainly I would not take risks of 
this kind with any other class of men. The truth is 
that, taken as a whole, the money of bank depositors 
is safer by far than it would be in their own possession. 
Taking the banks of the United States as a whole, I 
do not believe that, in my time, one mill in a thousand 
dollars of the entire amount of money entrusted to 
them, has ever been lost. I am thankful that my 
business life, in the main, has been passed in an occu- 
pation so honorable in itself, and so useful to mankind. 

Since the year 1873, I have been interested in main- 
taining the Mansfield L/yceum, of which I was one of the 
founders, and have always felt that in aiding to keep it 
alive and healthy, I have never done a better work for 
my fellow townsmen. It is a work which has never been 
appreciated, and probably never will be, but nevertheless 
it has yielded an ample reward in my own intellectual 
improvement, and in the satisfaction of knowing that 
some good has been done for others. 

The lyceum, like several other societies of a similar 
character which preceded it, would have come to an end 
through want of financial aid, at the end of its second 



HISTORY, BANKING AND GENEALOGY. 237 

year, but fortunately, upon the completion of the new 
court-house, I was invited to deliver the dedication ad- 
dress, and this service gave me an influence with the 
county commissioners which secured a room for its 
library and its meetings, free of rent, so that we were 
able to keep it alive, and in fair working order, until at 
last, in 1890, a better home was attained in the Memorial 
Library building. From its beginning the lyceum has 
been conducted for the mutual improvement of its mem- 
bers and not for the entertainment of the public, and as 
a rule its discussions have been devoted to high themes 
in which the general public is not interested. Social 
science topics, however, are those that always received 
larger attention than others. By social science is meant 
the study of all that relates to social improvement, which 
includes a multitude of subjects of practical value to 
every community, all of which require careful consider- 
ation, in order to secure right action, which can only 
come through an enlightened public sentiment. Limited 
to these investigations the membership of the lyceum 
will always be small in numbers. 

Probably not more than one in a hundred of our adult 
population will care to give attention or thought to such 
investigation, but nevertheless it is a work that must be 
done if our city or any other is to keep pace with the 
progress of our modern civilization. What the com- 
munity needs is the truth upon all questions pertaining 
to the general welfare, and the truth can only be reached 
by careful investigation and thorough discussion. 

During the quarter of a century in which the Mans- 
field Lyceum has had its being, nearly all of the leading 
improvements of the city had their origin in its investiga- 
tions and discussions. Of course the general public has 
no knowledge of this fact, but it is a fact nevertheless. 
From the Mansfield Lyceum ideas have crystallized 



238 RECOLLECTIONS OE A LIFETIME. 

into legislation which has been useful to the entire state. 
The State Board of Health is one of the children of 
the Mansfield L,yceum, and there are others of equal 
eminence. In short, the Mansfield L,yceum has been 
the mental ganglia of the city, and now that we of the 
old guard are passing away, we leave it to the younger 
generation to retain and perpetuate its usefulness. If 
Young America fails to utilize the opportunities we 
have provided for them, so much the worse for Young 
America. 

Among the various hobbies I have ridden in my time, 
I do not remember of any that has yielded me more en- 
joyment than that of genealogy, and I am not sure but the 
results of my work in that direction will be as permanently 
useful as anything I have attempted. I have been able to 
bring to the knowledge of the Brinkerhoff family, now 
numbering not less than two thousand of the name, and of 
course several thousand of collateral descent, so that of 
the Brinkerhoff name and blood there are now, perhaps, 
ten thousand persons living who date back to Joris Dirck- 
sen Brinkerhoff, who came to this country in 1638, and 
settled in what is now the city of Brooklyn. The Brink- 
erhoff family, therefore, is one of the oldest Holland 
families in this country. I do not know of any family 
with a better record, and I have been able to bring to 
the knowledge of every member of this family the in- 
spiring facts of its history, and thereby give it an "esprit 
du corps' ' which can not be otherwise than powerful for 
good as long as it exists upon the earth. 

Through ten generations, down to the present hour, 
so far as we know, not a single person of the Brinker- 
hoff name has ever been convicted of an offense against 
the criminal laws, and they have uniformly been an up- 
right, law-abiding, God-fearing people, and the fact that 
they have always been such must be a powerful deter- 



HISTORY, BANKING AND GENEALOGY. 239 

ent to any deflection from the family traditions. As my 
father used to say to us children, "The Brinkerhoffs 
have never been very rich or very famous, but in an un- 
broken line from Joris Dircksen, through seven genera- 
tions, on both your father's and mother's side, without 
exception, they have been trustworthy, loyal, Christian 
men and women, and I do not want any of you to break 
out of the line." 

We have now reached the tenth generation of Brink- 
erhoffs in this country, and the fact that I have been 
able to preserve for them, and those that succeed them, 
the honorable record of the family in the past, is cer- 
tainly a satisfaction to me, and I am very sure will be a 
perennial fountain of good to them. For nearly six hun- 
dred years we know that the family motto on the family 
coat of arms has been "constans fides et integritas" and I 
trust it will continue as a characteristic of every member 
so long as the Brinkerhoff name exists upon the earth. 

My efforts in the direction of genealogy resulted in the 
publication of a book in 1886, entitled: "The Joris Dirck- 
sen Brinkerhoff Family," in which all authentic informa- 
tion in regard to the early history of the family has 
been preserved. Also the history of the Pennsylvania 
and New York Brinkerhoffs, quite fully. It is a vol- 
ume of about two hundred pages, and the edition of one 
thousand five hundred copies was widely distributed 
among our kinsmen and in public libraries.* 

In the winter of 1875 I was a delegate to the famous 
Beecher trial, in association with the pastor of our church, 
Rev. S. B. Bell. 



* Since the foregoing was written, I prepared and published the 
genealogy of my wife's family, in a pamphlet of twenty pages, 
entitled, "The Ben tley Family," but limited mainly to Ohio Bent- 
leys, although it has an honorable record as far back as the early 
colonial days in Rhode Island. 



240 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Henry Ward Beecher was the most wonderful orator I 
have ever heard, and I had heard him and met him sev- 
eral times before the outbreak of the scandal with which 
his name had been connected during the previous year. 
The charge of immorality made by Theodore Tilton in 
1874 had been investigated by a committee of his church, 
and pronounced groundless. A trial for civil damages 
made by Tilton failed by a jury verdict of nine to three, 
and now a third and final investigation was instituted by 
Plymouth Church, which was conducted by an ecclesi- 
astical court composed of delegates from all the leading 
Congregational churches of the United States. The trial 
lasted for ten days, and all possible evidence bearing upon 
the case was produced, and resulted in a verdict fully 
exonerating Mr. Beecher. I was deeply interested in 
the trial, and not only listened to the testimony given, 
but sought outside for additional information during ad- 
journment intervals. I became thoroughly satisfied that 
Mr. Beecher was the victim of an outrageous blackmail 
conspiracy, and felt that the council ought to make its 
verdict of acquittal so emphatic that it would make a 
final ending of all suspicions against him. 

When, at the close of the hearing, the council went 
into executive session for final action, there did not seem 
to be any difference of opinion as to Mr. Beecher's inno- 
cence; but there were many who felt that Mr. Beecher 
was indiscreet in some things, and felt disposed to say 
so. Such action I felt would be uncharitable and un- 
kind, and a hindrance to his future usefulness; and so 
for the first time in the entire discussion I took a part. 
It was well on toward midnight, but as a layman, who 
had not consumed a moment of time, I claimed a hearing 
and got it. I think I interested the council, for the mem- 
bers gathered around me closely and listened with marked 
attention, and when the voting came I carried my point. 



HISTORY, BANKING AND GENEALOGY. 241 

I think Mr. Beecher felt that I had been of some service 
in shaping the verdict, for he invited me to dinner the next 
day with a few of his special friends. However this 
may be, Mr. Beecher stood fair with the world thence- 
forth, and the old splendor of his life was renewed and 
continued to the end. Theodore Til ton left the country 
and disappeared from public view. 



Z\2 RECOU<KCTlONS OF A UFKTIME. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Carekr as a Philanthropist. 

Ohio Board of State Charities — Secretary A. G. Byres — Visiting 
institutions in Canada and the east — Social Science Association 
— National Conference of Charities and Correction — Advance in 
care of the insane — Contribution to the "Boston Congregational- 
ist' ' — Plans for the Toledo Asylum — Boards of county visitors — 
Removal of children from county infirmaries — National Confer- 
ence of 1882 and 1883 — Paper on building plans — Minneapolis 
incident — Inspiration from England — Friendship of Barwick 
Baker — The convict lease system — Bx-Governor Anderson as an 
orator. 

A philanthrophist, according to the dictionary, is "one 
who loves and serves mankind." Every Christian must 
be a philanthropist, for the very essence of Christianity 
is service to men, through love of the Master, and there- 
fore all Christians worthy of the name are philanthro- 
pists, and as such helpers of their fellow-men according 
to their opportunities and their capacity. 

My own opportunities for philanthropic work have 
been largely increased by official position, and as I am 
responsible to the state as well as to God for my conduct 
in such position, it seems proper that I should write of 
it under the head I have adopted for this chapter, with- 
out violating the admonition not to let thy right hand 
know what thy left hand doeth, and I will confine myself 
to a brief review of my work as a member of the Board 
of State Charities and kindred associations. The work of 
our board, or at least its results, is a matter of record in 
our annual reports, so that it does not seem necessary to 



CARKKR AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 243 

say very much more to give a definite idea of my own 
work in that direction. 

I was appointed a member of the board in April, 1878, 
by Governor Bishop. When he first wrote to me asking 
my consent to such appointment, I declined upon the 
ground that I could not give the time essential for the 
proper discharge of its duties. He asked me to come and 
see him, which I did, and, after talking it over with him, 
finally consented to try it awhile. 

When I came upon the board the other members were 
John W. Andrews, of Columbus, a retired lawyer and a 
man of ability, and of excellent judgment, and after serv- 
ing with him for ten years, I feel safe in saying he was the 
most valuable man we have had upon the board. Next to 
him I rank Joseph Perkins, of Cleveland, in point of 
ability, and his service commenced with the formation 
of the board in 1867. He was a man of large inherited 
wealth, and gave his life to benevolent work, and as a 
philanthropist in the largest sense, he was not surpassed 
by anyone in the history of the state. He was a man of 
large ability, and in all respects was a Christian gentle- 
man. 

Charles Boesel was another member of the board who 
represented the German element, aud was a most excel- 
lent man. The remaining member of the board was 
Murray Shipley, of Cincinnati, who is still interested in 
benevolent work in that city, but he remained on the 
board only a few months. Coming into the association 
with men so thoroughly informed, and so competent, I 
soon became interested in the work, and its magnitude 
has grown upon me ever since. I was the youngest man 
on the board, and as I had been active in politics for 
many years, the other members put upon me the work of 
dealing with the general assembly when legislation was 
desired, and as I was a Democrat, and the legislature was 



244 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Democratic at that time, I was appointed to prepare the 
annual report of the board for the year 1878. 

In addition, at my suggestion, the governor in his an- 
nual message, recommended to the general assembly to 
ask the Board of State Charities to appear before it and 
present their views upon needed legislation. A resolu- 
tion of the house, in response, extended such invitation, 
and I was appointed by the board to prepare the address. 
Of course I had the reports, and advice of my associate 
members, and my address, as delivered and published, be- 
came the starting point of considerable legislation. 

Reverend A. G. Byers had been the secretary of the 
board from its creation, and was the best informed man 
in the state in regard to the workings of our state insti- 
tutions. He had also been chaplain of the Ohio peni- 
tentiary for six years, and was an expert in prison work, 
so that in him I had a most competent instructor in all 
matters pertaining to the work of the board. 

During the summer of 1878, Dr. Byers and I took a 
month's trip in visiting institutions in the East and in 
Canada, and learned a good deal, so that by the time I 
had to write the report and meet the legislature, I was 
tolerably well informed, and in looking over what I then 
wrote I do not see any occasion to make any large 
changes in my conclusions. 

In my address to the legislature I took strong ground 
in favor of a nonpartisan administration of our public 
institutions. This gave offense to many of the members, 
and on the strength of it they voted down a resolution 
proposing to publish my address. Mr. Perkins, however, 
directed Dr. Byers to have one thousand five hundred 
copies printed and send the bill to him for payment, 
which was done, and the address was duly circulated. 

In the fall of 1878, the National Social Science Asso- 
ciation met in Cincinnati, and Dr. Byers and I attended. 



CAREER AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 245 

At this meeting the section known as the section upon 
charities and corrections, separated from the parent 
association, and organized independently, as the National 
Conference of Charities and Corrections, and appointed 
an independent meeting for the ensuing year at Chicago, 
and since 1878 the National Conference of Charities has 
been entirely separated from the Social Science Associa- 
tion, and I have attended all its annual sessions except 
two, viz. , those at St. L,ouis and San Francisco. 

I have spoken of the National Conference of Charities 
and Correction as a section of the Social Science Associa- 
tion, and so in fact it was at that time, but it really had 
an independent origin, which grew out of a small meeting 
of members of the Board of State Charities held in New 
York City in 1874, and one independent conference was 
held in 1875 at Detroit, Mich. After that, in 1877, 
it met with the Social Science Association in Saratoga, 
N. Y., and in Cincinnati in 1878. At that time its 
members outnumbered all the other sections combined, 
and arranged for a separate existence, which it has since 
maintained. 

For the conference of 1879 I prepared a paper, entitled 
1 'Infirmary Building," which was a very careful study of 
the subject, and which I still adhere to, although its 
suggestions of segregation and classification have not 
been largely accepted. This paper can be found in the 
published report of the national conference of 1879, and 
also in the report of our board for that year. At the 
Chicago conference I was appointed president for the en- 
suing year. 

In April, 1879, M. D. Carrington, of Toledo, was ap- 
pointed a member of the board, to succeed Murray Ship- 
ley. He was a man of large business experience, and 
was a valuable member, and remained with us until he 
died in 1886. 



246 RECOIJ.ECTIONS OF UFF/TIME). 

The report of the board for 1879 was written by Mr. 
Andrews. One of the rules of the board was that 
nothing should go into a report except by the assent of 
every member, and the reports from that day to this 
have been unanimous. If we cannot convince each other 
we do not try to convince the legislature. 

At the National Conference of Charities held in Chicago 
in June, 1879, I was elected president for the ensuing 
year, and Cleveland, Ohio, was selected as the place of 
meeting. A resolution was also adopted by the con- 
ference, as follows: 

' 'Resolved, That the president of the conference be re- 
quested to present at the opening of the next year's ses- 
sion an address upon the work of the year, including 
legislation and administration. ' ' 

In the preparation of this address (which is published 
in the report of the conference of 1880), I opened up a 
correspondence with the governors of states and territo- 
ries, which not only brought me large information, but 
initiated several important reforms, which culminated in 
later years. Among these was the abolition of the lease 
system in some of the Southern States and the erection 
of United States prisons for United States prisoners. 
These reforms are not yet wholly completed, but they 
are so far advanced as to be practically assured. 

During the session of the Ohio legislature for 1879-80 
(see Ohio L,aws, Vol. 77, pp. 227-228), I secured the 
passage of an amendatory act, increasing the member- 
ship of the Board of State Charities to six and making it 
nonpartisan. Additional powers were also conferred. 

The new member under this act was William Howard 
Neff, who has since been one of our most intelligent, 
efficient and active members. 

The National Conference of Charities and Corrections 
for 1880 cost me a great deal of hard work, but its re- 



CAREER AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 247 

suits were sufficiently gratifying to repay me amply, and 
the conference from that year has become an increasing 
power for good throughout the United States, and its 
annual reports constitute the most valuable library of in- 
formation now attainable upon the subjects considered. 

In 1 88 1, the national conference was held in Boston, 
and, as my custom has been every year, in going to and 
coming from a conference, I visited institutions. This 
year I took in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and 
New York, and my report of observations was published 
in the report of our board for that year. 

My contribution to the papers of the conference of 
1 88 1 was a report "on the work of boards of state chari- 
ties, ' ' which has been credited with settling to a large 
extent the question of executive or nonexecutive powers 
for such boards. At any rate, nearly all boards of state 
charities since organized are in the line of its sugges- 
tions. 

The dominant question for consideration during the 
first few years of my service upon the Board of State 
Charities, was that of mechanical restraints in the care 
of the insane. Dr. Richard Gundry, superintendent of 
the Athens Asylum, was the first man in America to 
abolish entirely such restraints, and he had also inaugu- 
rated the system at the Central Asylum at Columbus 
upon his transfer to that institution. 

Other superintendents resisted this reform, and this 
contention was in progress when I came to the considera- 
tion of the subject in 1878. Dr. Byers, our secretary, 
was an enthusiastic convert to Dr. Gundry' s ideas, but 
the members of the board, as became them, were not 
disposed to commit themselves officially until experience 
should bring conclusive proofs. 

As a new member, I had no convictions for or against, 
but I became deeply interested and sought information 



248 RECOLX.KCTIONS OF A UFKTIME. 

by travel and study in all directions. In arriving at a 
definite conclusion, I was influenced largely by Dr. H. 
B. Wilbur, superintendent of the Asylum for Imbecile 
Youths, at Syracuse, New York, whom I visited. 

Dr. Wilbur, in 1875, had visited Europe, and upon his 
return made a report of progress made in England and 
Scotland in dispensing with mechanical restraints in the 
care of the insane, and advocated the adoption of the 
system in America. He was attacked upon all sides by 
the old superintendents, and when I met him was in the 
midst of that controversy. 

I was impressed by what he told me and read the lit- 
erature he gave me, and soon became satisfied that the 
nonrestraint system was right, and our board soon be- 
came of the same mind, so that we came up to the sup- 
port of the new methods with a united voice, and we 
now have the satisfaction of knowing that in Ohio, to- 
day, there are practically no mechanical restraints in any 
of our state institutions. 

In fact, that battle has been fought and won, not only 
for Ohio, but for America, and the progress made in the 
care of the insane in the last twenty years has been 
greater than in the previous half century. In bringing 
this about, I did what I could with voice and pen; 
whether effectually or not I do not know; but to have 
been a part, however small, in accomplishing this great 
progress, is to feel that I have not lived in vain. 

During these years, upon the request of the editor of 
"The Congregationalist, " of Boston, I prepared a series 
of articles presenting the various phases of charitable 
and correctional work, and among them is one entitled 
"Progress in the Care of the Insane," which was pub- 
lished July 10, 1884, and presented the nonrestraint sys- 
tem quite fully; and judging from the responses I re- 
ceived it was influential for good. 



CAREER AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 249 

Prior to this, however, I had written up this subject 
more fully in a report to the governor, which was pub- 
lished in the annual report of the Board of State Chari- 
ties for 1882, and led to the establishment of the asylum 
at Toledo. The Toledo asylum was authorized by act 
of April 18, 1883 (Ohio Laws, vol. 80, page 181), which 
provided "that the governor, attorney general, secretary 
of state, auditor of state and Roeliff Brinkerhoff are 
hereby appointed a commission to determine upon the 
manner in which provision shall be made for the care of 
the insane, and in making such provision said commis- 
sion is authorized to adopt plans which shall provide for 
the expenditure of a sum not to exceed $500,000, and 
with a capacity of not less than six hundred and fifty 
patients. ' ' 

The way I happened to be a member of this commis- 
sion came about from the fact that the legislature was 
unable to agree upon a location for the proposed asylum, 
and to save the appropriation it was agreed by common 
consent that the question of location should be devolved 
upon a commission of five of the state officers, in the 
order of rank, commencing with the governor. 

When the proposition was reported to Governor Foster, 
he at first declined to serve; but becoming satisfied that 
the appropriation would be lost unless he did serve, he 
finally agreed that he would do so on condition that he 
should name a member of the commission outside of the 
state officers. This having been assented to, he named 
me, and I was accordingly named in the bill. By the 
time this information came to me the legislature had ad- 
journed. I was very reluctant to serve upon this com- 
mission, but the law made no provision for filling a va- 
cancy, and acceptance seemed a necessity, and so I 
accepted. 

At the first meeting of the commission, after organiz- 



250 RECOUvKCTlONS OF A LIFETIME. 

ing and electing Dr. Byers as secretary, the governor 
turned to me and said: ' 'Now, General, what do you want? 
You are the only member of the commission who has 
given special attention to the care of the insane, and we 
propose to hold you responsible for whatever system we 
adopt. "We will have our say in location, but you must 
determine the system." To this I assented, with the 
assurance that I would propose no system that did not 
have the unanimous approval of the Board of State 
Charities. 

Our board was very desirous that provision should be 
made for state care of all insane people in our county 
infirmaries, and insisted that no system should be adopted 
that did not make such provision. Therefore I explained 
to the governor that there were one thousand patients in 
county infirmaries who were entitled to state care, and 
they were our constituents, and we could not assent to 
any plan that failed to provide for them. 

The governor could not see how this could be, as no 
asylum in the state had cost less than $1,500 for each pa- 
tient, and the last one, built at Columbus, cost $1,880. 
I told him there were two ways in which it could cer- 
tainly be done, and probably a third one: First. Build- 
ings at the central asylum similar to those erected at the 
Willard asylum, New York. Second. Annexes of this 
character at each of the state asylums. Third. A new 
asylum upon the segregate or cottage system, on the gen- 
eral plan of the asylum at Kankakee, Illinois. 

The result of our discussion was that we went to Kan- 
kakee, and took with us two volunteer architects. Out 
of the visit, and subsequent discussions, and selections 
from plans presented by our architects, the asylum was 
evolved which was finally established at Toledo, and 
which provided for one thousand patients, and was con- 
tracted for inside of our appropriation of $500,000.00. 



CARKKR OF A PHILANTHROPIST. 25 1 

This asylum of forty houses, for a time was known as 
"BrinkerhofPs Folly," but that day is now gone, and 
Toledo marks a new era in asylum construction. 

The Toledo asylum, however, is only a prophesy of 
what the cottage, or village system, in the care of the 
insane is destined to become — when farm lands to the 
extent of an acre for each inmate is provided, and pro- 
ductive industries shall be added for the employment of 
patients according to their tastes and abilities, and all the 
ordinary conditions of a well-ordered community of sane 
people are established. When this is accomplished we 
shall have a system, not only superior to any yet devised 
as a curative or custodial agency, but also largely self- 
supporting. 

In considering the needs of county institutions it oc- 
curred to me that a county board of visitors with powers 
and duties similar to those of the State Board of Chari- 
ties would be of value, and therefore I drafted a bill and 
secured its passage, mutilated somewhat by amendments, 
in the general assembly of 1882 (Ohio Laws, vol. 79, 

P- 107). 

This law authorized the appointment by the courts of 
common pleas of a board of five persons, three of whom 
shall be women, ' 'whose duty it shall be to keep them- 
selves fully advised of the condition and management of 
all charitable and corrective institutions supported by the 
county," and to report their observations annually to the 
court, and to the Board of State Charities. 

Unfortunately the law was made permissive, and not 
mandatory, as I drew it, and only about one-half of the 
counties in the state organized such boards, but these 
proved of great value. However, by act of the general 
assembly, passed March 29, 1892 (Ohio I^aws, vol. 89, 
p. 161), I succeeded in securing a revision of the law so 
as to make the appointment of boards of county visitors 



252 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

mandatory upon the courts, and the number of members 
was increased from five to six, three of whom to be 
women, and not more than three of whom are to be of 
the same party afiiliation. By the same act boards of 
county visitors were made guardians ad litem for all 
children against whom proceedings are instituted for the 
purpose of commitment to either of the juvenile reform- 
atories, and the results have been very beneficial. As 
an aid to the Board of State Charities in the in- 
spection of local institutions boards of county visitors 
are very helpful, and in the education of the community 
in benevolent work they are a constant help. 

In the way of legislation, I am not sure but the best 
work I have ever done was in securing the passage of an 
act making it unlawful to retain children in county poor 
houses. In preparing the bill I expected opposition, and 
hardly dared to hope for its passage in one session of the 
legislature, but to my surprise it passed without serious 
opposition. (Ohio L,aws, vol. 80, p. 102.) This result 
was doubtless due, very largely, to the previous recom- 
mendations of the Board of State Charities in its annual 
reports. It is not yet enforced entirely in every count}^ 
but public opinion fully sustains the law, and the creation 
of county homes has become so general that the time is 
near at hand when no dependent child will be subjected 
to the contaminating influences of a poor house. 

The national conference of 1882 was held at Madison, 
Wisconsin, and was a very interesting session. Aside 
from participation in the discussions, my contribution 
was a report as chairman of the committee upon public 
buildings. In the discussions, my own views upon 
county care of the insane and the causes of the increase 
of insanity will be found in the report of the conference. 

In Ohio, the Board of State Charities has always con- 
tended for the care of the insane exclusively by the state, 



CAREER AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 253 

and time has only intensified our convictions, and we re- 
joice in the fact that an act of our last legislature, 1898 
(Vol. 93, page 274), provides "that on and after June 1, 
1900, it shall be unlawful to receive or keep in any 
county infirmary in the State of Ohio any insane or epi- 
leptic persons, and all sections authorizing the receiving 
or committing of such insane and epileptic persons to the 
infirmaries of the state are hereb}^ repealed. ' ■ 

We believe that the Toledo or cottage system, as it is 
commonly called, with outlying colonies for quiet chronic 
cases, is the best solution of the question of caring for 
our increasing insane. 

My statement at the Madison conference, that insanity 
was mainly a disease of civilization, was sharply contro- 
verted, but time has largely confirmed it, and I see no 
reasons for changing my conclusions. 

My paper on building plans, in the main, was a pro- 
test against the almost universal extravagance in con- 
struction, as the following paragraph will indicate: "In 
my judgment, the greatest hindrance we have to-day in 
obtaining legislation necessary for expansion and pro- 
gress in charitable and correctional work is the enor- 
mous foolishness and extravagance perpetrated almost 
everywhere in our public buildings and especially in our 
benevolent institutions. In building a state house, a 
court-house, or a city hall, it may be well enough to have 
a structure sufficiently grand and imposing to fairly rep- 
resent the wealth and power of the people who own them; 
but when it comes to the construction of buildings for 
the care of the dependent, defective or criminal classes, 
there is neither wisdom, good taste nor common sense in 
external magnificence, and it ought to be stopped. ' ' 

These statements were fortified and illustrated by 
reference to such insane asylums as those at Buffalo, N. 
Y., and Morris Plains, N. J., costing respectively $7,500 



254 RKCOIXKCTIONS OF A UFETIMK. 

and $5,000 per capita of inmates, which were contrasted 
with Willard Asylum, N. Y., and the pavilions at How- 
ard, R. L, costing respectively $350 and $125 per capita, 
without any loss in comfort or curative care. The cor- 
rectness of these ideas I was able to emphasize in brick 
and stone at Toledo, in the immediate future, as I have 
heretofore given account. 

An interesting incident connected with my attendance 
at the conference of 1882 was a visit I made on my way, 
at Minneapolis, Minn. , with my daughter, who then re- 
sided there with her husband, Colonel Wm. McCrory, 
and which resulted in the creation of a board of state 
charities for that state. During my stay in Minneapolis, 
I visited the county jail, which I found so objectionable 
that when I reported what I saw to Colonel McCrory, 
he insisted that I should go with him to the county 
judge, Honorable A. H. Young, and see if something 
could be done for its improvement. Judge Young seemed 
greatly interested, and our discussion resulted in the de- 
termination to make an effort for the creation of a board 
of charities and corrections for Minnesota for the super- 
vision of all county jails, together with all other char- 
itable and correctional institutions. 

At my suggestion, the governor of the state was in- 
duced to commission a number of delegates to the na- 
tional conference, and among them Judge Young, Rev- 
erend Robert G. Hutchins, and Honorable Nelson Wil- 
liams, of Minneapolis, and Reverend M. McG. Dana, of 
St. Paul, who, upon their return, became the champions 
of a state board for Minnesota. 

When the legislature met in the following winter, 
Colonel McCrory wrote to me for a copy of our Ohio 
law and all literature I had at command bearing upon 
the subject. This I did, and a duplicate of our Ohio 
law was introduced, and championed by Colonel Cross, 



CAREER AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 255 

the representative from Minneapolis, and in due time 
was adopted, and a very efficient board was appointed. 
This board, with its able secretary, Reverend H. H. 
Hart, has done admirable work, and Minnesota to-day is 
in the front rank of states in its efficiency in caring for 
the defective, dependent and delinquent classes. 

The year 1883 was an active one to the members of 
our board, and especially to myself. I wrote the annual 
report for that year, in which I presented our recommen- 
dations, and the result of our investigations with more 
than usual fulness, so that it is not necessary to say 
much here. 

The National Conference of Charities and Correction 
for 1883 was held at L,ouisville, and was our first meeting 
in a Southern State. It was a notable meeting in many 
ways, as will be seen by reference to the published re- 
port of the year. My own contribution to the confer- 
ence was a paper, entitled the 'Tost Penitentiary Treat- 
ment of Criminals. ' ' It was a presentation of the various 
methods adopted in the county of Gloucestershire, En- 
gland. It was the first time, so far as I know, in this 
country, that the workings of the parol system as ap- 
plied to high grade prisoners was fully presented. The 
presentation of this paper resulted in the application of 
the parol system to the Ohio Penitentiary two years 
later, and subsequently to the prisons of some other 
states. In addition to publication in the report of the 
conference, it also appeared in the annual report of the 
board for 1883. 

The Gloucester system is simply the prison system as 
it now exists in the British Islands, but I have referred 
to it as such because it had its origin largely in the 
county of Gloucester, England, and because it was first 
explained to me fully by Mr. Barwick Baker, of Hard- 
wicke Court in that county. 



256 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

A few weeks after the publication of my address, as 
president of the National Conference of Charities and 
Correction, in 1880, I received a letter from Mr. Baker, 
of whom I had never heard before, asking me some 
questions in regard to prison matters referred to in my 
address, which in some way had come into his possession. 
I answered him, and Yankee-like, asked him some ques- 
tions in return, and so a correspondence sprang up be- 
tween us. I soon found I was dealing with a master, 
and from the literature he sent me, I soon knew who he 
was. 

Thomas Barwick L,loyd Baker was one of the foremost 
men of the century in the reformation of prisons, and 
prison legislation, in the British Islands. He was born 
in 1807, and as early as 1847-' 8, was high sheriff of the 
county, and then for the remainder of his life was a mag- 
istrate. As a visiting justice, he soon became interested 
in prison questions. In the half-dozen jails in the county 
he found various abuses, and at once began to devise 
methods for their correction. 

First of all, he felt that children in jail should be re- 
moved from the contaminating influences of older offend- 
ers, and in 1852 he established the first reformatory in 
England for the reclamation of young criminals. It was 
located on his own estate, at Hardwicke Court, and was 
built and supported by his own money. It proved to be 
a great success, and attracted large attention, and in a 
few years juvenile reformatories were established all over 
the British Islands. L,ater on, through his influence 
with his associate justices, he inaugurated various other 
reforms, such as the separation of prisoners awaiting 
trial, the parol system, police supervision, and prisoners' 
aid associations. 

The results of these various improvements were, that 
after forty years (as he wrote me), crime was so reduced 



CAREER AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 257 

in Gloucestershire, that instead of six prisons, and all 
full, there was but one prison and that was not full. I 
became greatly interested in him and our correspondence 
continued until he died in 1886, and my inspiration in 
prison work came from him more than from any other 
man. The last letter he ever wrote was to me, and it 
was mailed a few days before he died. He had been ill 
for months, and in a previous letter he said: "My doc- 
tor 'til lately did not expect me to live through the 
winter. I do not object to death, but I consider my life 
a trust, not to be relinquished by any act of carelessness 
of my own until it pleases the Giver to take it. So I am 
carried by my butler and footman up and down stairs, 
and sit in my study and write all day, and thank God for 
being able to do that. I have had a far happier life, I 
believe, than most men; indeed, I almost tremble to think 
of the happiness I have enjoyed through life. I was 
very ambitious, not of rank or fame, but of feeling that 
I was used by God in some of his works. Now, when 
broken in health, unable without injury to leave my 
chair, my voice gone, and probably never again to leave 
my home, I find myself one of the instruments of, pos- 
sibly — I say no more — of establishing the parole system 
in America, where it may eventually lessen temptation to a 
portion of one hundred thousand fellow-men per annum. ' ' 
I had written him of our success in securing the 
adoption of some of his ideas by the Ohio legislature, 
and in it he greatly rejoiced. He was one of the noblest 
of men, and he became to me what St. Paul was to 
Timothy, a spiritual father in prison reform, and I think 
he looked upon me as Paul did upon Timothy. It was a 
great pleasure to me in 1895 to accept an invitation from 
his son to spend a few days at Hardwicke Court, and 
visit the reformatory established by his father, which is 
17 



258 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME . 

still in existence, and in active usefulness. Hardwicke 
Court is an old ancestral estate, and I doubt if a more 
delightful home can be found in all England. In 
Gloucester Cathedral is a fine memorial monument to 
Mr. Baker, to which penologists all over the world were 
permitted to contribute a pound ($5.00) apiece, and 
among those from America, four were from Ohio. I 
have nearly fifty letters from him, and innumerable 
leaflets and newspaper articles, and a more consecrated 
spirit and a wider wisdom I have never known. I con- 
sider it one of the highest privileges of my life to have 
had the affection and confidence of Barwick Baker. 

The most notable event in the L,ouisville Conference 
was the presentation of a monumental paper upon ' 'the 
convict lease system" by George W. Cable, the famous 
author from Louisiana. It occupies thirty-five pages of 
the conference report, and still remains the most ac- 
curate and vivid exposition of the subject ever written. 
Its delivery was exceedingly effective and held the great 
audience spellbound. His arraignment of this southern 
institution was simply terrific, and it looked as if an ex 
plosion from the southern delegates was imminent. Cer- 
tainly, if the statements were not true, they should be 
denied. There was a painful silence for several minutes, 
and no one said a word. At last, after a call for discussion 
by the chair, John H. Mills, of North Carolina, who had 
shown his ability as an orator the year before at Madi- 
son, Wisconsin, took the floor, and made defense so far 
as North Carolina was concerned, but it was an uphill 
business. 

Following Mills was a very tall minister from Missouri, 
who looked fierce but contented himself with referring to 
the statements of Mr. Cable as very remarkable, which, 
if true, should receive consideration. But each sentence 



CARKKR AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 259 

was introduced with an "if" so emphatic as to indicate 
disbelief. 

These two speakers were followed by a third in the 
person of Charles Anderson, of Kentucky, and previously 
one of the governors of Ohio. He faced the audience 
from the platform, and commenced by announcing him- 
self as a Kentuckian of Kentuckians, through family kin- 
ships back to Daniel Boone. He declared that if any 
man had a right to speak for Kentucky as a Kentuckian, 
it was Charles Anderson. Having laid this foundation, 
he supported Mr. Cable, with an arraignment of the 
lease system in Kentucky, and with an eloquence I have 
never heard surpassed. His speech, as reported, gives 
no idea whatever of its oratorical splendor. For local 
reasons, probably, it was so toned down that I am sure 
those who heard it would hardly recognize it. 

Mills, of North Carolina, and the ministerial brother 
from Missouri were not reported at all. George W. 
Cable, who was reported in full, soon found the at- 
mosphere of his native state uncongenial and removed to 
New England, where he still resides. 



260 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Penology and Genealogy. 

National Prison Association of 1883 — Prisoner's Sunday — Penology 
and genealogy — United States prisoners — Prison Congress of 
1884 — Crime schools at public expense — Report on Saratoga 
Congress — Genealogy justified — National Conference of Char- 
ities and Correction — A new era in penal legislation — Tribute 
to Allen O. Myers — The Intermediate Penitentiary. 

During the year 1883 the National Prison Congress 
was reorganized at a meeting held at Saratoga, N. Y., 
in September. This meeting I attended, and became a 
member, and vice-president of the association, and have 
attended every annual meeting since. 

The National Prison Association was organized in 
1870, through the efforts of Reverend K. C. Wines, 
secretary of the New York Prison Association. The 
first congress was held in Cincinnati and was a notable 
meeting, and these annual meetings continued for several 
years until the death of Mr. Wines, when they were dis- 
continued until the reorganization of 1883. Unlike the 
National Conference of Charities and Correction, the 
National Prison Association is an incorporated and per- 
manent organization. Kx- President Hayes was made 
president, and after the first year I became vice-president, 
and remained such until his death in 1893, when I be- 
came president. 

The prison congress at Saratoga was more for organi- 
zation than work, and the discussions were not reported. 
What proceedings there were can be found in connection 
with the "Reports of District Conferences of Prison 



PENOLOGY AND GENEALOGY. 26 1 

Officers, ' ' held at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in December 
of that year and in February of 1884. The first was 
thinly attended, but the second was a large gathering of 
prison officers, and its discussions were interesting and 
valuable. 

The February conference continued three days, and as 
there were no papers presented the whole time was occu- 
pied in discussions of prison topics. For the first time I 
came in contact with the leading prison officers, and the 
acquaintances and friendships there formed have been 
very valuable to me. In connection with this confer- 
ence, and preliminary to it, was a meeting of, perhaps, 
a hundred clergyman, invited by the New York Prison 
Association, with a view of interesting the churches in 
prison topics. 

The result was the recommendation to the churches of 
one Sabbath each to be observed as "Prisoners' Sunday." 
The observance of this day has grown steadily, and is 
now quite general in several states. 

It was at this conference that I took occasion to invite 
a number of the New York Brinkerhoffs to meet me at 
my room, at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, on the evening 
succeeding the adjournment of the conference, at which 
the genealogical society was formed, which resulted in 
the publication of the family history I have heretofore 
referred to. 

The discussions of the New York Conference were 
very instructive, and the fact that they were informal, 
and largely conversational, added largely to their in- 
terest, and it has always seemed to me that a portion of 
the annual meetings of our National Prison Congress 
should be utilized in the same way. 

At this conference I took occasion, for the first time, to 
bring the subject of United States' prisons and United 
States' prisoners to the consideration of prison officers, 



262 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

and the interest then aroused has continued to grow ever 
since. 

My interest in United States' prisoners came about 
through inquiries instituted in 1880, in preparing my re- 
port to the National Conference of Charities and Correc- 
tion, to which I have already referred. My circular 
letter to state officials received prompt attention, and I 
was able to give a satisfactory report in regard to the 
numbers and location of prisoners in the several states, and 
then it occurred to me to inquire in regard to prisoners 
convicted bj^ federal courts of violation of federal laws, 
and, therefore, I wrote to the department of justice for 
information. In response I received a copy of the last 
report of the attorney-general, which did not answer my 
questions. I then wrote to my member of congress, 
and presently I received another report of the attorney- 
general. 

It then occurred to me that President Hayes, who had 
been interested as governor of Ohio in prison questions, 
and was an old friend, would aid me in my inquiries. 
Unfortunately, it was near the close of his term of office, 
and I got no response, and I was compelled to make my 
report to the conference without any definite information 
in regard to the United States prisoners. By this time 
I was fully interested in the subject, and next year on 
my way to the conference, which met in Boston, I went 
there via Washington in order to visit the department 
of justice in person, and see what I could find out in re- 
gard to United States prisoners. The head of the de- 
partment was away, but his representative received me 
cordially, and turned me over to Mr. Haight, the young 
man in charge of the prison department, with instruc- 
tions to afford me all assistance possible. After hearing 
my inquiries, he told me that it would take a little time, 
but he would send answers to my hotel by the next 



PENOLOGY AND GENEALOGY. 263 

morning. Not hearing from him the next day I called 
again, and then he told me he was not yet through but 
would send me a full report to my address in Boston. 
The outcome was I got no response whatever. 

I then went outside of the department and wrote di- 
rectly to wardens of penitentiaries, and through Mr. 
Spofford, the librarian of congress, secured all available 
literature on the subject, which was considerable, as the 
subject had been investigated by the navy department, 
and by the labor committee of the house of representa- 
tives. 

At the meeting of the Prison Congress for 1884, I 
brought the subject to the attention of the delegates, and 
after discussion a committee was appointed, of which I 
was chairman, with instructions to report at the next an- 
nual meeting. The result was that during the year I was 
able to gather together a good deal of information which 
enabled me to present the comprehensive report I made 
at the Detroit congress in 1885. 

The department of justice very naturally was much 
disturbed at the revelations made, but did not dispute 
my statements. In reality, I think the department was 
doing the best it could under the existing conditions, and 
with the limited appropriations allowed. The fault was 
in the blind ignorance of congress, which still remains, 
and will continue to remain until it is reached by an 
aroused public sentiment. The department of justice 
since then has been fully in accord with the recommenda- 
tions of the Prison Congress, and every year the at- 
torne}'-general recommends the erection of federal pris- 
ons for federal prisoners, and some progress has been 
made. The general public, however, are hard to reach. 

The average American, probably, never saw a United 
States prisoner, and possibly never heard of one with suf- 
ficient distinctness to inquire who he was, or where he 



264 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

was. There are prisoners and prisoners. Some are in 
jails, some in workhouses, and some in penitentiaries. 
The average American knows this, but United States 
prisoners, who are they? The newspapers never say 
anything about them; the pulpit never names them; 
political platforms are oblivious to their existence; even 
the labor unions, and kindred associations which clamor 
so fiercely against the competition of prison labor, never 
talk about United States prisoners. Surely, their exist- 
ence must be a myth. 

The truth is, our country is so vast that a few thou- 
sand prisoners scattered broadcast through the states 
and territories, do not aggregate a sufficient number at 
any one point to attract public attention, and, as they are 
out of sight, very naturally they are, practically, un- 
known. Nevertheless, they do exist, and we, as Amer- 
ican citizens, are responsible for their care and culture. 
At the time of my report, there were one thousand and 
twenty-seven in prison who had been convicted of 
felonies, and were serving their sentences in peniten- 
tiaries of twenty-three states. 

Ten years later, on the 30th of June, 1895, there were 
two thousand five hundred and sixteen such prisoners 
scattered through the penitentiaries of thirty states, and 
the statements and recommendations of the attorney- 
general are in full accord with my report of 1885. At 
the time of my report there were over ten thousand 
United States prisoners in county jails awaiting trial or 
serving short sentences as misdemeanants; but for the 
year of 1895 there were over fifteen thousand. 

Evidently the government of the United States, in the 
care and treatment of these prisoners, has a tremendous 
responsibility. In this responsibility we, the people, are 
copartners. These prisoners are the wards of the na- 
tion — the children of the state — and their treatment and 



PENOLOGY AND GENEALOGY. 265 

training are such as we provide, for they are helpless in 
the grasp of the government which we create. 

Of the penitentiaries, in which prisoners convicted of 
felonies are confined, not one is in the South. Of the 
Southern prisoners, those of the Atlantic States are sent 
to the State of New York, and mainly to the county 
prisons of Albany and Erie. The other Southern pris- 
oners are sent to Western prisons, and mainly to those 
in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. 

For prisoners in jails, the United States pays for their 
board the ordinary per diem of the locality, as certified 
by the United States marshal and district attorney. The 
jails of this country, herding the prisoners as they do in 
a common hall, without regard to age or criminality, 
are with rare exceptions unspeakably bad. They are, in 
fact, a survival of the abominations which Howard found 
in England a century ago, and which in England have 
been swept away by public indignation and public law. 
The average American jail is simply a school for the 
compulsory education of young offenders in all the arts 
of crime. The penitentiaries of the several states are 
better than the jails; but, with less than a half a dozen 
exceptions, they are without reformatory purpose or 
methods. They are simply punishing places, and their 
dominant idea is money-making. To the average legis- 
lator the highest ideal of a prison is one that pays ex- 
penses and yields a revenue to the state, and the supe- 
rior economy of reformation is never considered. 

The officers in charge of these prisons are state offi- 
cials, in whose appointment, control or removal the gen- 
eral government has no voice, and, with the exception of 
an annual visit to penitenti* ries by an inspector of the 
department of justice, United States prisoners are prac- 
tically out of memory and out of mind. For a great 
government like ours to shirk its responsibilities in this 



266 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

way is an offense against civilization and a crime against 
humanity. 

The National Prison Association of 1884 was ne ^ i n 
Saratoga, commencing September 6th and continuing to 
September 10th. Dr. Byers and I represented our board 
at this congress, as we did at the February conference 
in New York. At this congress a number of valuable 
papers were presented, but there were also informal dis- 
cussions upon topics named. One of these topics was 
' 'County Jails," which I was asked to introduce, which 
I did with blackboard illustrations. 

Upon this subject of county jails I expect I have 
written and spoken more frequently than any one else in 
America, but, I fear, without any large results, for the 
average American jail still remains as a survival of the 
horrors found by John Howard in Kngland more than a 
century ago. They are schools of crime, and no great 
progress in prison reform can be made until they are 
revolutionized. 

A school, according to Webster's Dictionary, is "an 
assemblage of scholars; those who attend upon instruc- 
tion in a school of any kind; a body of pupils." A 
scholar, according to the same authority, is "one who 
attends school; one who learns of a teacher; one under 
the tuition of a preceptor; a pupil; a disciple; a learner." 

To establish a school of crime, therefore, requires 
first, teachers skilled in the theory and practice of crime; 
second, pupils with inclination, opportunity and leisure 
to learn; third, a place of meeting together. All these 
requirements are provided and paid for by the public in 
the erection, organization and equipment of county jails 
and city prisons. With less than a dozen exceptions, 
all the jails and city prisons in the United States are 
schools of this kind, and it is difficult to conceive how 
a more efficient system for the education of criminals 



PKNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY. 267 

could be devised. In every jail of a dozen inmates, 
there are at least two or three who have made crime a 
profession, and have spent years in its practice, and are 
adepts in all its arts and appliances. To them nothing 
is more delightful than to communicate to others better 
than themselves, and the leisure and opportunity afforded 
them for this congenial work, in the halls of our ordinary 
jails, they never fail to utilize to the utmost. So apt and 
entertaining are these teachers of crime that they rarely 
fail to interest and influence their scholars. These 
scholars are mostly young men or boys who have drifted 
into jail, not because they are specially bad, but because 
of evil associations, neglected training, or the exuberance 
of youthful spirits, they have been led into the commis- 
sion of some offense, real or technical, against the law, 
resulting in their arrest and incarceration. A part of 
them, very likely, are not guilty at all, but, like poor 
dog Tray, they have been found in bad company, and 
have been arrested with their guilty associates. At any 
rate, here they are in jail, and, willing or unwilling, they 
are pupils in a school of crime. 

Every observant jailer knows with what devilish skill 
the professors of this school ply their vocation. Hour 
after hour they beguile the weariness of enforced con- 
finement with marvelous tales of successful crimes and 
the methods by which escape has been accomplished. 
If attention fails, games of chance, interspersed with ob- 
scene jokes and ribald songs, serve to amuse and wile 
away the time. In this way the moral atmosphere of a 
jail is made so foul that the stamina of a saint is scarcely 
strong enough to resist. Let a prisoner attempt to be 
decent and to resist the contaminating influences brought 
to bear upon him, especially in a large jail, and he will 
find that, so far as personal comfort is concerned, he 
might as well be in a den of wild beasts. 



268 RECOU,ECTlONS OF A UFF/TIMK. 

To the instructions of teachers like these, not less 
than one hundred and fifty thousand pupils are com- 
mitted every year in the United States in jails alone. If 
we include station houses and city prisons also, the num- 
ber can be doubled. This is compulsory education with 
a vengeance, but the statements made are true, never- 
theless, and are as appalling as they are true. For this 
evil there is but one adequate remedy, viz., the absolute 
separation of all prisoners confined in county jails or city 
lockups. If a prisoner is not permitted to associate 
with any other prisoner, the evil is stopped, but not 
otherwise. 

Jails should be solely places of detention for prisoners 
awaiting trial. Condemned prisoners should be sent to 
district workhouses or to a penitentiary, as the offense 
committed may determine. Then, with our peniten- 
tiaries graded upon the Crofton system of progressive 
classification, and the whole crowned with police super- 
vision of prisoners after discharge, we shall begin to 
deal with our criminal classes upon humane and Christian 
principles, and shall make them better instead of worse 
by our treatment. 

At Saratoga, I also brought up for the second time the 
subject of United States prisoners, and the congress ap- 
pointed a committee of three, of which I was chairman, 
with instructions to consider fully, and report at the next 
annual congress. I prepared a full report of observa- 
tions made at the New York and Saratoga conferences, 
which was published in the Annual Report of the Board 
of State Charities for 1884. This report also contains an 
account of observations made in visiting institutions, on 
my way to Saratoga, in Pennsylvania, the District of Co- 
lumbia, Virginia, and New York. During this trip, I 
visited Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and attended a reunion 
of the Brinkerhoffs of Adams county, who were descend- 



PENOLOGY AND GKNEAI^OGY. 269 

ants of my great-grandfather, who settled on a tract of land 
four miles east of that city. At this reunion there were 
about eighty of the name or blood present, and meeting, 
as we did, upon the old homestead, still owned by a de- 
scendant of the original owner, the occasion could not be 
otherwise than memorable. At this reunion, I delivered 
an address, of which the following is an abstract : 

"The oldest institutions among men, of which we have any knowl- 
edge, is the family. God created Adam and Eve, and planted them 
eastward in a garden, and from that day to this the fundamental 
condition of all human society centers in the family. When that 
fails everything fails. Under these circumstances, it is clearly evi- 
dent that the first duty, and the highest duty of all wise statesman- 
ship, is to protect, encourage, and purify the family. The Bible, as 
a whole, is made up almost entirely of incidents in the history of 
a single family. A nation is simply an aggregation of families. 
When the family is weak, the nation is weak. If this be true, then 
it cannot be unwise for a family to consider its conditions and his- 
tory. In fact, it would seem to be its highest duty to do so, and 
to put away everything that weakens it, and encourage everything 
that strengthens it. 

' 'In this free and independent country of ours, where the funda- 
mental law of the nation declares that all men were created free 
and equal, it has been the habit of our people to misapply this 
declaration to the conditions of nature, instead of the conditions 
of legislation, where it belongs. The result has been that to 
many people it is almost a sin to have a grandfather. This cer- 
tainly is a mistake. Every one who considers the subject seriously 
must know, and every student of biology does know, that the gov- 
erning forces of every human life are to a very large extent the 
forces of heredity. 

" 'For we are the same our fathers have been; 
We see the same sights or fathers have seen — 
We drink the same stream and view the same sun 
And run the same course our fathers have run.' 

"In short, we are borne upon the currents of a stream whose 
fountain-head lies far back in the infinite past. We may deflect 
that stream somewhat; we may purify it somewhat; we may by 



270 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

skill and courage evade its rocks and whirlpools somewhat, but 
nevertheless down that current we must go, and what we get we 
must get within its everflowing waters. 

"The questions of heredity, therefore, are serious questions — 
serious to us and serious to those who come after us. If the stream 
is a bad one, let us endeavor to make it better for our children. If 
we find an ugly rock in its channel, we can at least mark its loca- 
tion as a warning to those who shall come after us. In this light, 
therefore, genealogy is not foolishness, but wisdom. In this light, 
genealogy is 'philosophy teaching by example.' 

' 'The Brinkerhoff family stream in America has but one fountain- 
head, and dates back to 1638, when Joris Dericksen Brinkerhoff, 
with his family, landed in the little city of New Amsterdam. 

"From Joris Dericksen (Joris, son of Derick), so far as known, 
without exception, have come all who bear the name, or lineage, of 
Brinkerhoff upon the American continent. Some spell the name 
Brinck and some Brink, and the orthography of either is fully au- 
thenticated in ancient documents. 

"In a few manuscripts it is written 'Brinkerhoff,' and in one in- 
stance 'Van Blynckerhoff. ' The Flushing branch of the family 
(descendants of Abraham, son of Joris Dericksen), for the most 
part, use the 'c' The Bergen branch (descendants of Hendrick, 
son of Joris Deriksen), have almost entirely omitted it. 

"Among the families of the name remaining in Holland the 'c' 
has never been known, and my own judgment is that it is an 
American innovation. It is, however, a matter of but little im- 
portance, for 'c' or no 'c' we are all descendants of Joris Dericksen 
as our common ancestor. 

"From the foregoing sketch it may be safely said that Joris 
Dericksen Brinkerhoff was a very worthy representative of the 
Holland family to plant in America, and very deserving of remem- 
brance by all who bear his family name or have descended from 
him. All of these may feel assured that the first representative of 
that name in America was an honest and upright man. The family 
motto, ' Constans fides et integritas,' seems evidently fitting to the 
man. He held in those early days positions of trust requiring 
probity and integrity of character, and held them for years: and 
more than this, he was pre-eminently a religious man. He lived 
in times of great religious excitement. Nothing before it, nothing 
since it in all the world's history can compare with it for an in- 
stant. The reformation had reached out and down until it has laid 
its hand upon the masses of the common people. Free, umtram- 



PENOLOGY AND GKNHAI.OGY. 27 1 

meled thought was battling then and there against the solid cus- 
toms and usages of centuries, and the victory was then being won. 
It was the voice of many thousands sounding throughout the earth 
and could not be stilled. If the soul of our common ancestor had 
been stirred within him, and he had 'flown before the Spaniard' in 
order that he might maintain religious freedom in the new world, 
it was most fitting that he should close his life (although not yet 
grown old or gray) in serving as a ruling elder in one of the earliest 
reformed churches in America. His children (two sons and a 
daughter) were all members of that church, and his descendants, 
with very rare exceptions, down to the present time, have been 
loyal adherents of the churches of the Reformation. The records 
of any of the Dutch churches in the neighborhood of New York 
will give abundant evidence of this fact. I have a list of the sub- 
scribers of the building fund of the Dutch church at Flushing, 
Long Island, for 1731, and seven of them are Brinkerhoffs, and in 
the list of pew-holders for 1736 twenty-one of them are Brinker- 
hoffs. I have copies of the early records of the Dutch churches 
of Brooklyn, New York, Hackensack, New Jersey, Adams county, 
Pennsylvania, and Cayuga county, New York. The first two 
names on the roll of the Brooklyn church, organized 1660, are 
Joris Dericksen Brinkerhoff and his wife Susannah. The first two 
names in the Hackensack church in 1686 are Hendrick Jorise 
Brinkerhoff and his wife Clausie. Among the first of the Adams 
county church are those of Joris Brinkerhoff (my great grand- 
father) and Jacobus Brinkerhoff and their wives. I remember 
hearing my father (George R.) say 'the Brinkerhoffs have not 
been very famous or very rich, but this much I can say for them, 
that in an unbroken line from Joris Dericksen to the present they 
have been honest, upright, Christian men and women, and I hope 
none of my children will break out of the line.' Certainly the 
children of Hendrick were all members of the Dutch churches of 
Bergen county, New Jersey, so also were the children of his son 
Jacobus, and so also were the children of Jacobus' son, Joris, the 
common ancestor of the Pennsylvania and Central New York 
Brinkerhoffs. Joris, who removed to Adams county, Pennsylvania, 
in 1770, had seven sons and one of them was a clergyman of 
that church. The other six were soldiers in the Revolntionary 
war, and all lived and died as loyal members of the Dutch Re- 
formed church. Since that time, as the family has enlarged its 
borders, as would be natural and proper, many have gone into 
other communions, but, as a rule, they have thus far maintained 



272 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the faith of their fathers, and for a Brinkerhoff to be disloyal to 
the teachings and the philosophy of the Divine Nazarene is, to say 
the least, a serious deflection from the traditions and history of the 
Brinkerhoff family. I think my father was right and that the 
characteristic heritage of the family is its faith in Christianity. If 
I were to frame a motto now for the family, based upon its record, 
as its fundamental principle of action, through ten generations, it 
would be, 'Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; upon this 
rock we build.' With an heredity like this which is fully in- 
dicated in all the records of the family, we, of the later gen- 
eration, ought to be ashamed of ourselves, if we are not, at least, 
fairly respectable men and women and useful members of the 
communities in which we live. It behooves us also to remember 
that 'to whom much is given much will be required. ' 

"With six generations of honest, upright, Christian men and 
women behind me, it would only seem necessary to float with the 
stream in order to be a good man, but to be a bad one would seem 
to require a special effort. Shakespeare says of a similar circum- 
stance: 

" 'Of six preceding ancestors, that gem 

Conferred by testament to the sequent issue, 
Hath it been owned and worn. 
It is an honor belonging to our house, 
Bequeathed down from many ancestors, 
Which were the greatest obloquy in the world 
In me to lose.' " 

The history of our family is in every respect worthy of 
preservation. All the way down, in every generation, 
are men and women of character and influence in the 
communities in which they lived. We have furnished 
legislators for states and nation; clergymen for many 
pulpits; soldiers for every war of the Republic; judges 
for the highest courts and magistrates without number as 
justices of the peace. Even to-daj^, in a score of cities, 
are lawyers, editors, physicians, merchants, manufactur- 
ers, bankers, college professors, railroad officials, and ar- 
tisans of the highest skill, who bear the name of Brinker- 
hoff; and in the country, in a dozen different states, are 
farmers of that name, who are affluent in broad acres and 
honored citizens of the communities in which they live. 



PENOLOGY AND GENEALOGY. 273 

The National Conference of Charities and Corrections 
for 1884 was held in St. Louis, in October, and for the 
first time since its organization, I was absent. The sec- 
ond day of the conference, October 14th, was election 
day in Ohio, and as I felt responsible, to the extent of 
my vote, for its result, I staid at home and did my duty 
as a citizen. The conference was an important one, and 
the volume for that year is one of the most valuable in 
our series of conference reports. 

With the inauguration of Governor Hoadly and a 
Democratic administration, it was natural that I should 
feel more at home and have more influence than with a 
Republican administration, although, as I have already 
stated, the board, as such, has never, in my time, been 
influenced in its action by party politics. 

The subject of contract labor in the penitentiary had 
been agitated by the labor union people for several years, 
and in this, as in the previous general assembly, several 
representatives were elected from the larger cities who 
were clamorous for such legislation in regard to prison 
industries as would practically abolish prison labor alto- 
gether. One of these wild schemes had passed the house 
in the previous legislature, which we succeeded in defeat- 
ing by securing such amendments in the senate as the 
house would not accept, and before a committee of con- 
ference could agree, the session came to an end. 

As soon as the new legislature was elected in 1883, an( i 
the names of its members were announced, I commenced 
their education upon the prison question by sending to 
each one such literature as I thought would be of use, so 
that by the time they met in Columbus, I had a good 
many of them pretty well informed upon the subject. 

When the Hoadly legislature organized, a new com- 
mittee was formed and named "the committee upon pris- 
18 



274 RKCOU,ECTlONS OF A UFF/TIMK. 

ons and prison reforms," and Allen O. Myers, the leader 
of the labor unionists, was made chairman. The out- 
look for prison reform with such a committee was about 
as bad as it could be, but in the end good and not evil 
came out of it. Allen O. Myers was a graduate of the 
Reform School at Lancaster, and he had many personal 
and political shortcomings, but still, with all his faults, 
he had some good qualities and had quite a reputation as 
a speaker and writer. I knew Allen's history well, and 
I knew him personally well enough to know how to 
reach him. It is a long story and an interesting one, but 
this is no place to tell it. Suffice it to say, Allen became 
our friend and not our enemy, and through him a new 
era in prison legislation was inaugurated in Ohio. 

Allen O. Myers, with all his faults, deserves kindly 
remembrance. He was a man of genius, and had he 
been properly balanced, would have been a leader of men, 
but his nature was meteroic, and his career like a rocket. 
Had he lived in the French Revolution, he would have 
been the peer of Danton and Robespierre. L,ike the 
Petrel on the ocean, he was never at home except in a 
storm. A few weeks previous to the opening of the gen- 
eral assembly of 1884, Allen came to my room at the 
Neil House, by appointment, at his own request, and 
staid with me until midnight. He admitted he had been 
impressed by the literature I had sent him, and, as he 
expressed it, he did not want to make a fool of himself, 
and would welcome all the information he could get. 

We talked the whole subject over, and he told me his 
history, with all the limitations of his early environment, 
and expressed a willingness to lend a helping hand in se- 
curing better methods in dealing with criminal classes. 
You can understand, he said, from what I have told you 
of my own history, why I feel a sympathy for the poor 



PENOLOGY AND GENEALOGY. 275 

devils who are situated as I was, and why I feel like giv- 
ing them a better chance than I had. 

He was true to his word, and the act of March 24, 
1884 (Ohio Laws, Vol. 81, pp. 74 and 186), went upon 
the statute books, and gave to America for the first time 
the indeterminate sentence and a parole law for a convict 
prison, and abolished the contract system of prison labor 
in Ohio, and substituted the piece- price plan. 

This law was followed by the passage of the bill intro- 
duced into the senate by Senator Elmer White establish- 
ing the Intermediate Penitentiary (now the Ohio State 
Reformatory), and was carried through the house by the 
dauntless championship of Allen O. Myers. It was 
passed April 14, 1884 (Ohio L,aws, Vol. 81, p. 206). 
All of these acts were forced through the house by the 
imperious leadership of Allen O. Myers; without him 
they did not stand the ghost of a chance. They were in 
advance of public sentiment, and their administration fell 
into unfriendly hands, and for the first three or four 
years it was hard work to prevent their repeal, but we 
kept them alive, and at last public sentiment came up to 
them, and opposition was ended. 

The Intermediate Penitentiary excited more hostility 
than the other prison measures, and for years there was 
a battle in the legislature to save it. Some considered it 
unnecessary and claimed that with the parole law in 
force, the old penitentiary at Columbus would be ample 
for many years for all the convicts of the state. Others 
thought it a sentimentalism, and called it a "dude fac- 
tory," where, as an adverse senator expressed it, "con- 
victs would be furnished with 'quail on toast and Brus- 
sels carpets. ' ' ' 

For six years I spent several days each winter, in Co- 
lumbus, in appeals to committees, and personal inter- 
views with members, to quiet opposition, and secure ap- 



276 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

propriations, until at last in 1 891, in an address before 
the finance committee, I challenged the legislators to go 
to Elmira, New York, and examine for themselves the 
reformatory there, conducted on the plan we contemplated 
for Ohio, and assured them if they were not satisfied they 
could come home and abandon the Ohio institution with- 
out further controversy. 

They accepted this proposition and over fifty members 
went in a special train furnished at the expense of Mans- 
field people, and after two days at Elmira they came 
back satisfied, and gave us an appropriation of $200,000, 
and since then there has been no opposition. 

My experience with legislators has been that with 
patience and perseverance a good cause can always be 
made to triumph in the end. 



CONVENTIONS: CHARITABLE, ETC. 277 



CHAPTER XXL 

Conventions: Charitable, Commercial, Genealog- 
ical. 

Tribute to Charles Boesel and Joseph Perkins — Brinkerhoff re- 
union in New Jersey — National Conference of Charities and 
Correction for 1885 — Prison Congress at Detroit — Commercial 
Convention at Atlanta — Response to an address of welcome — 
Alabama Hospital for Insane — Travels in Florida — Conferences 
for 1886 — Civil service recommendations — County visitors re- 
organized — Civil service progress — Discharged prisoners — Prison 
punishments. 

The year 1885, in the history of our board, was mem- 
orable in the death of two of our oldest and most useful 
members, Charles Boesel and Joseph Perkins. Mr. 
Boesel had been a member of the board nine years. He 
was a large-hearted, broad-minded German, and I was 
greatly attached to him. Mr. Perkins was one of the 
original members of the board, appointed in 1867, and 
reappointed upon the reorganization of the board in 
1876, after an interregnum of four years after the board 
was abolished in 1871. He was one of the best and 
wisest men in philanthropic work I have ever known. 

Having inherited large wealth, he devoted his life to 
charitable work, not simply as a bounteous giver of 
money, but also as a careful and diligent student of social 
problems. I deem myself fortunate in having been a 
coworker with this high-minded, consecrated Christian 
gentleman. 

The vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Boesel was 
rilled by the appointment of L,yman J. Jackson, August 



278 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

14, 1885. He was a lawyer, from New Lexington, Ohio, 
and only served for a few months, when he resigned, and 
soon after died. Mr. Perkins was succeeded by General 
John Beatty, of Columbus, who served one term, and, on 
account of a personal difference with Governor Foraker, 
was not reappointed. He was a man of large ability and 
was an excellent member, and we were all sorry to part 
with him. Beatty was formerly a member of congress 
from my district and he and I were close friends. 

The report of the board for 1885 was written by me, 
and in it I have outlined its work for that year suffi- 
ciently not to require farther reference here. 

August 27, 1885, the Brinkerhoff reunion, which I 
have already referred to as having been arranged for the 
year before, was held on the old homestead of Hendrick 
Jorisen Brinkerhoff, on the Hackensack river, in New 
Jersey, and was the two hundredth anniversary of its 
occupancy by him. It was a notable gathering and a 
great success, and was quite fully reported in the New 
York newspapers. The "New York Tribune" estimated 
the total number present one thousand, and said: 

"Refreshments were served in a large barn. Coffee, lemonade, 
two kinds of sandwiches and seventeen varieties of cake were 
passed around in unlimited quantities by the fair daughters of the 
house of Brinkerhoff. The cousins from afar sat in friendly inter- 
course beneath the old roof, through which the sunlight streamed 
in many a mottled beam. 

"General R. Brinkerhoff, of Mansfield, Ohio, reviewed the life 
of their common ancestor, Hendrick. He told his listeners they 
were all the same kith and kin, whether they spelled the name 
with a 'c' or 'y' or T or a final ( e.' The name in Holland, how- 
ever, had always been written Brinkerhoff, and the *c' had never 
been known in that country. In closing, he compared their Dutch 
ancestors with the pilgrim fathers, who 'learned the best of their 
New England system of government during their life in Holland, 
while their bigotry was English and their own. Let us come to an 



CONVENTIONS: CHARITABLE, ETC. 279 

end of this kissing of the Plymouth blarney stone. We have 
taken a back seat too long. It was the countrymen of William the 
Silent and John of Bernaveld, and not the refugees of English 
tyranny, who shaped the destinies of this country. All honor, 
then, to Holland, the little giant of the salted seas! All honor 
to Hendrick Jorisen Brinkerhoff, who, as one of the first sons of 
Holland who came to America, and who aided to establish in the 
new world an asylum for the oppressed millions of the old, and 
who, by his life and example, gave to his descendants an inher- 
itance of "faith and integrity," which is their richest legacy to- 
day.' 

"It is understood that the next reunion of the family will be in 
1888, the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Brinkerhoff s 
in America, and will be held u:: der the auspices of the descendants 
of Abraham, the younger brother of Hendrick, and probably at 
Fishkill, on the Hudson river, where there are several famous old 
homesteads of the family. One of these, still owned by a 
Brin'c'kerhoff, was occupied before and during the War of the 
Revolution by Colonel Derick Brinckerhoff, who was a close 
friend of Washington, and often entertained him when the army 
was in that vicinity. One of the bedrooms is still known as the 
Washington bedroom. 

"Colonel Dirick Brinckerhoff was a famous man in his day, and 
was a member of the Colonial Assembly in 1768-9, and also of the 
first Continental Congress in 1775." 

My address was entitled "What We Know About 
Hendrick," who was the eldest son of Joris Dircksen 
Brinkerhoff, the progenitor of the family in America. 
He was a notable man in his day and I was able to out- 
line his career quite fully. He was a magistrate in Long 
Island and also a member of the Hempstead Assembly 
in colonial times.* After his removal to New Jersey, he 
was again a magistrate for many years. 



* The Hempstead Assembly was a convention held at Hemp- 
stead, under authority of the English governor, March 1, 1665, and 
was composed of thirty-three delegates, whose names are preserved 
in the "Civil List, State of New York," page 64, and doubtless in 
other publications. The name of Hendrick, as was the custom of 



280 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

The National Conference of Charities and Correction 
for 1885 was held at Washington City, and was one of 
the largest and most important we had ever held, and 
the report for that year is a volume qf over five hun- 
dred pages. In this volume my own portrait is given 
as a frontispiece, for the reason that I had been a pres- 
ident of the conference. In this conference I only par- 
ticipated in the discussions, and had no paper. 

The Prison Congress this year was held at Detroit, and 
was also a great success. The opening meeting and the 
Sunday meeting were very largely attended by citizens 
of Detroit, and all the sessions of the congress were well 
attended. At Detroit I made my report upon United 
States prisoners, which was the most exhaustive exam- 
ination of that subject made before or since, and cost me 
more time and trouble in getting at the facts than any 
other paper I have ever prepared. I also made an ex- 
temporaneous address at the Sabbath evening meeting, 
and still another later, upon prison labor, both of which 
are in the annual report. 

My paper upon United States prisoners was published 
in the annual report of the congress, but not in full. 
In compliance with a request from its editor, I prepared 
an article upon the same subject for the "Boston Congre- 
gationalist, " which was published in the following Janu- 
ary. This agitation of the subject brought attention to 
it in congress, and a bill was introduced to erect federal 



the Dutch in those days, omits the surname, and is recorded as 
Hendrick Yorisson (correctly Jorisen, as it is elsewhere). 

On page 63, his name also appears as a member of a convention 
at New Amsterdam, November 1, 1663, and also at Flatbush, Feb- 
ruary 27, 1664. 

His service in the Hempstead Assembly entitles his descendants 
to membership in our modern colonial societies, as, for example, 
"The Colonial Dames." 



CONVENTIONS: CHARITABLE, ETC. 28 1 

prisons for federal prisoners, but affirmative action was 
not secured until the winter of 1890-91; but unfor- 
tunately no appropriations were made to carry it into 
effect. In 1895, however, the military prison at Fort 
L,eavenworth was transformed into a prison for civil 
offenders convicted under United States laws, and in the 
winter of 1897-98 congress authorized the enlargement 
of this prison by the erection on adjoining grounds of a 
new and commodious prison structure, which is now in 
process of completion (mainly by prison labor), and will 
accommodate a thousand or more prisoners. 

The other two prisons authorized by the act of 1890- 
91 doubtless will be constructed in the near future, and 
the efforts of many years will be crowned by success. 
In fact, the battle has already been won, and all that re- 
mains to be done is to insist that they shall be models 
for the nation in construction and administration. 

The interest manifested by the citizens of Detroit was 
greater than is usual, and our Sabbath meeting, I think, 
was the largest we have ever held, and was probably the 
largest meeting upon prison topics ever held in the world. 
The only one that has rivaled it since was the opening 
meeting of the congress at Nashville in 1889, and in 
Austin, Texas, in 1897. 

Another important meeting in 1885, to which I was a 
delegate, was "The Commercial Convention," held at 
Atlanta, Georgia, May 19th to the 23d. It comprised 
nearly six hundred delegates, representing the cities and 
commercial bodies in nearly all the states of the union. 
I was appointed by the mayor to represent the city of 
Mansfield. I wrote to the secretary of the convention, 
advising him of my appointment, and then started a few 
days in advance in order to stop over at Chattanooga and 
visit the battle-grounds and other points of interest in 
that vicinity. 



282 RECOLLECTIONS OF A UFBTIMB. 

leaving Chattanooga in the morning before the con- 
vention, I went to Atlanta, and arrived late in the after- 
noon, and went to the Kimball House, where I engaged 
rooms. On registering my name, the clerk handed me 
a letter from the secretary of the convention inclosing a 
program in which I was announced as the first speaker to 
respond to the address of welcome. I immediate^ in- 
quired for the office of the secretary, which was in the 
hotel, and went to his room and protested against such 
use of my name without my assent. He said he had 
telegraphed me without finding me, and had then ventured 
to put me on the program, and insisted that I should 
accept, as it was then too late to change. In view of the 
fact that the Honorable Darwin R. James, a member of 
congress from Brooklyn, New York, would follow me 
and supply any deficiencies, I finally consented, and 
trusted to luck in what I should say. 

There was a great audience at the opening session the 
next morning, and the governor of the state and many 
of the most famous men of the state were on the plat- 
form. The first speech was made by the mayor of the 
city, and he was followed by Mr. Grady, the famous 
southern orator and editor. 

Everything went smoothly until near the close of Mr. 
Grady's speech, when, after referring to the destruction 
of the city by the northern armies, and other incidents 
culminating in a restored Union, which he hoped would 
be perpetual, he said, in regard to the conduct of the 
South in the Rebellion: "Under the same circumstances, 
the South would do again what she did in 1861, and they 
had no apologies to make. ' ' 

This gave offense to the northern delegates, and there 
was danger of an explosion, and in view of this I made 
a concilatory talk t entirely different from what I had in- 
tended. As it healed the breach, and gave great satis- 



CONVENTIONS: CHARITABLE, ETC. 283 

faction to both northern and southern delegates, and 
made my trip through the Gulf and Atlantic States a 
pleasure through the friends it made me, I give it as 
printed in the ' 'Constitution' ' next morning: 

"General Brinkerhoff, of Ohio, was called upon to return the 
feelings of the visitors, which he did in a touching and appropri- 
ate manner. His reference to the subsidence of party passion, and 
the growing confidence between the sections, was received with 
cheers. 

"Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Convention: I am but one 
of the many representatives on this floor out of our northern hives 
of industry, and yet I am very sure I voice the unanimous senti- 
ment of all in saying that it is a satisfaction and a pleasure to each 
and to all of us to reciprocate the kindly greetings extended to 
us by the executive head of this most beautiful, most marvelous 
city, and by the executive head of the great journal which is an 
honor to the empire commonwealth of Georgia. 

"We have met here to-day, not as strangers, not as foreigners, 
not as enemies, but as friends and brethren of a common house- 
hold; as children of one family; as citizens of one country. We 
are here with a common lineage, and a common language, and 
common laws, and common interests, and common hopes. We come 
here, I trust, believing that whatever is good for one section of the 
country, in the way of national legislation, or commercial privi- 
leges, is good for all sections of the country, and that whatever in- 
jures one section of the country injures all sections. In short, we 
are members of one body. The hands cannot say to the feet, we 
have no need of thee. The feet cannot say to the eyes, we have no 
need of thee, and so with all members. 

"Some of us, I trust, and possibly all of us, believe that the law 
of unity, and of brotherhood, and of community of interests pre- 
vails upon the larger planes of the world's nationalities, and that 
whatever injures one country injures all countries. In other words, 
we are the children of one Father and are brethren of the great 
family of humanity. However this may be, we are here to-day as 
the citizens of the great Republic, and we are here to consider more 
especially the commercial and financial interests of our own 
country. It is a country broad enough and grand enough to com- 
mand the best thought and the highest wisdom of the best men of 
the nation, and looking into the faces of this great body of intelli- 



284 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

gent representatives, which I see before me, I am very sure that 
our deliberations together will not be without fruition in the results 
of the future. In any event, however, it will do us good who are 
here, and our commingling together will be a joy forever in the 
memories of the future. 

"Gentlemen of the convention. — This occasion, considered 
rightly, is no ordinary event in the chronology of nations. Never 
before in the history of nations, so far as my knowledge extends, has 
there been convened so large a body of representative business men 
for the consideration of purely business subjects. Certainly, there 
has never been convened a body of 'men who represented larger 
interests, or larger possibilities, than are gathered in this hall to- 
day. Never before in the history of nations has there been a 
people with a heritage so vast, or a future so boundless. Here we 
are from hundreds of cities, extending from the lakes on the north 
to the far southward, where the blue waves wash the shores of the 
Mexican gulf; from the stormy Atlantic to the golden gates of the 
Pacific, three thousand miles away. It is true, there are countries 
with a larger population, but we must remember that our fifty-five 
million are but the beginning of empire, for with our mighty heri- 
tage of fruitful lands, it is only a question of arithmetic, and a few 
generations, when our country, if it remains undivided, must num- 
ber more millions than any other nation of the globe that now ex- 
ists, or ever has existed. There are children living to-day, nay, it 
is possible there are persons in this audience, who will live to see 
two hundred million of population within the present boundaries 
of the United States. There are children now living, and possibly 
there are persons in this room, who will live to see a score of cities 
within the present boundaries of the United States with a popula- 
tion of from one to five millions. His honor, the mayor, referred 
to London with its teeming millions, and its financial supremacy; 
but Mr. President, it is no idle dream for me to assert that the time 
is not far distant when this domination of London will cease to ex- 
ist. Nay, verily, I believe there are persons in this audience who 
will live to see the City of New York the imperial master of the 
commerce of the world, and the most populous city upon the 
rounded globe. 

' 'Men and brethren — We of this generation stand at the fountain 
head of this mighty river, and it is within our power, to a very 
large extent, to determine the direction and the channel in which 
its waters shall flow. In view of this mighty fact it behooves us 
to come to the consideration of the questions of this hour, in no 



CONVENTIONS: CHARITABLE, ETC. 285 

narrow, provincial or sectional spirit, but to come remembering 
the responsibilities we owe to God and humanity, and enlarge our 
vision to the full breadth of the problems before us. 

' 'Men and brethren — we stand at the threshold of a new era. 
Old things have passed away and all things have become new. 
Old hates, old animosities, old discords have gone glimmering into 
the dream — the nightmare dream — of things that were. Let it be 
remembered also that for the first time in the history of this na- 
tion this statement can now be made to the fullest extent. Now, 
at last, we are one country, thank God, and there is no longer any 
north, or south, or east, or west, but we are Americans, with one 
flag, one country, and one destiny. 

"The gentleman who preceded me referred, with noble eloquence, 
to the conflicts and controversies of the stormy years of war, and 
I, as a soldier on the northern side of the question, am here to-day, 
in the heart of the South, to join him in burying out of sight and 
out of memory, forever, whatever dregs of bitterness remain in the 
bloody cup of war. The truth is, they ought to have been buried 
long ago, and they would have been had the work of recon- 
struction been entrusted to the soldiers who fought the battles of 
the war. 

1 'The war through which we have passed has not been an unmixed 
evil, however, by any means. In fact, I do not know but we are be- 
ginning to realize with a reasonable degree of clearness that there 
was a 'Providence that shaped our ends,' and that the results of the 
war are greater for good than for evil. 

"It is a law of matter and of mind that no great good can come 
to the earth except it comes through struggle and through storm. 
We see it in the solid globe in every age of geologic time. We see 
it in the history of nations as far back as we have any history. 
Our nationality came to us through struggles of the Revolution. 
Christianity, which gives us all there is that is worth living for, 
comes to us through the blood and sufferings of the Cross; and 
now, my fellow-citizens, shall we not have the faith to believe that 
in the blood-stained battlefields of the years that are gone the 
tree of liberty has been planted in fertile soil, and that its magni- 
ficent trunk is rooted for ages, and its wide spreading branches 
will cover the continent, inviting all nations to come and partake 
freely of its rich fruitage of freedom and justice and humanity to 
man? 

"Thanking you, gentlemen, for the cordial welcome you have 



286 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

given us, I return to you the fullest reciprocity from the members 
of this convention. ' ' 



My address was very cordially received by the conven- 
tion, and gave me an introduction to its members, and 
gave me recognition in the sessions that followed, and 
resulted in friendships that have been of value to me in 
every Southern state I have since visited. 

Leaving Atlanta I went with an excursion given to the 
convention to Anniston and Birmingham, and then 
drifted leisurely through the Gulf and Atlantic States 
to Washington. At Tuscaloosa, the capital of Alabama, 
I stopped a day to visit an insane asylum upon invitation 
of Dr. Bryce, its superintendent, whom I had met at the 
Louisville and Madison conferences. He seemed pleased 
to see me, and said he was glad to have one man from 
the North to inspect his institution who had had ex- 
perience in the specialty. I asked him if I really was 
the first, and he said I was. I made a very careful in- 
spection of the entire plant, and found it a wonderful 
institution, and upon the whole unsurpassed in America. 

Dr. Bryce was a native of South Carolina, educated at 
Charleston, and a graduate of the medical college at 
Philadelphia. His first experience in the specialty was at 
the asylum at Millegeville, Georgia, and then for a year at 
Trenton, New Jersey, from which he was transferred to the 
charge of the asylum at Tuscaloosa in i860. Here was a 
man of genius who had been let alone, and was permitted 
to develop an insane asylum without interference, and 
the result was, when I visited him, he had no superior 
in the world, and in some respects he had no equal. To 
discover such a man and such an institution was a great 
pleasure, and it did not take me a month to make him 
famous, and within three months he wrote me that he 



CONVENTIONS: CHARITABI/E, ETC. 287 

had received visits from superintendents as far east as 
Massachusetts and as far west as California. 

Leaving Tuscaloosa, I went south to Montgomery and 
Pensacola, and thence east to Jacksonville, stopping off 
at Chattahoochee, where I discovered an insane asylum 
unknown even to the Association of American Superin- 
tendents. Unlike Dr. Bryce, its superintendent was a 
soldier and not a medical man, and the physician in 
charge had never seen any other insane asylum, and the 
books he had were fifty years old. 

However, Captain Mosely, who had been with General 
Lee in the rebel army for four years, was a kind-hearted 
and intelligent gentleman, and his institution, upon the 
whole, was quite creditable. The plant was an old mili- 
itary post, with 1,800 acres of land, and had been trans- 
ferred to the State of Florida after the war. From Jack- 
sonville I went up the St. Johns river to Sanford, and 
then back to St. Augustine. Going north, I stopped at 
Savannah, Charleston and Columbia, to visit prisons and 
asylums, and reached Washington in time to attend the 
National Conference of Charities and Corrections, of 
which I have already given an account. 

The year of 1886 was one of active visitation of insti- 
tutions by the Board of State Charities, and much good 
was accomplished, but no new legislation of special im- 
portance was enacted. 

The National Conference of Charities and Corrections 
for 1886 was held in St. Paul, Minnesota, and was pre- 
sided over by Honorable William Howard Neff, of our 
board. At this conference I had two papers — one upon 
"The Progress of Prison Reform," and the other upon 
"United States Prisons and Prisoners." The first was 
prepared with special view to aid the cause of prison re- 
form in Minnesota, and was delivered at a large meeting 
held Sabbath evening in the Congregational church. 



288 RECOU<ECTlONS OF A UFETIMK. 

The other was read at a regular meeting of the confer- 
ence. Both of these papers, of course, are in the annual 
report of the conference for that year. The first was 
published in the newspapers and in pamphlet form, and 
was largely circulated. The St. Paul conference was 
fruitful for good in many ways. 

The National Prison Congress for 1886 was held at At- 
lanta, Georgia, November 6-12, and was the first con- 
gress held in the heart of the old South. It was a nota- 
ble meeting in many ways, and marks a new era in 
prison reform in that section. My part in the public pro- 
ceedings of the congress was limited to an address at the 
First Baptist Church on Sabbath evening, and an address 
at the closing exercises of the congress, both of which 
are printed in the annual report. The hospitality of the 
City of Atlanta was boundless, and there is probably no 
other city in which courtesies to conferences have been 
cultivated as a fine art to such an extent as in Atlanta. 
Atlanta was not new to me, as I had been there in 1885 
for several days, while attending as a delegate to a com- 
mercial convention. 

In the spring of 1886, at a board meeting, Mr. An- 
drews and I were appointed a special committee to con- 
sider and report upon the subject of partisan politics in 
the management of our public institutions; our conclu- 
sions were filed in November, and appeared as Appendix 
B in the report of the board for that year. This paper 
gave offense to the politicians, and came very near end- 
ing my connection with the Board of State Charities, as 
I was charged with being its author, and the governor 
was urged not to reappoint me. 

Whilst I was fully in accordance with the views ex- 
pressed in the paper, I did not write it, for Mr. Andrews 
wrote every word of it. I certainly would have been 



CONVENTIONS: CHARITABLE, ETC. 289 

proud of its authorship, but the fact that I was not prob- 
ably saved my official head from decapitation. 

Personally, my relations with Governor Foraker were 
always kindly. I served with him four years on the 
Board of State Charities, and one year on the Centennial 
Exposition board, and I received from him uniform 
courtesy and kindness, but his partisanship exceeded 
that of any other governor with whom I have served, 
and when he went out of office there was not a single 
Democrat left in charge of a state institution in Ohio. 
However, I give Governor Foraker credit for entire sin- 
cerity in his action. He believed the party in power was 
responsible for the state institutions, and hence should 
have the representatives of that party to administer them 
from top to bottom. 

With these views he greatly retarded the progress of 
civil service reform in Ohio, and greatly discouraged the 
Board of State Charities, but still we did not cease ef- 
fort in that direction. We concluded, however, that the 
only way to succeed was to educate a better public senti- 
ment, and since, then we have never lost an opportunity 
to do so, and there is probably no one subject upon which 
I have written oftener, not only in our annual reports, 
but also in the newspapers, and in public addresses. The 
result has been that considerable progress has been made. 
The first legislative recognition of this progress was the 
law organizing the Ohio State Reformatory (Vol. 88, p. 
382), which I drew myself, and which places the entire 
administration upon a nonpartisan basis, and was adopted 
unanimously. During the session of the general as- 
sembly of 1892, nonpartisan boards of county visitors 
were made mandatory upon the appointing judges. 
These boards have been of great service in educating 
the public. They are nonpartisan themselves, and are 
19 



290 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

really an enlargement of the Board of State Charities, 
and, as a rule, are in full sympathy with it. These 
boards are selected from the most intelligent and philan- 
thropic people of their several counties, and are a vast 
help in developing a healthy public sentiment in regard 
to our benevolent and correctional institutions. 

With a board of six members in every county, in 
hearty co-operation with the Board of State Charities, it 
will be strange, indeed, if we do not make progress more 
rapidly in the future than we have in the past. The 
truth is, I am very hopeful and very proud of the Boards 
of County Visitors, for they are largely my own creation, 
and now that we have them in all our counties, I believe 
there is no one thing in the way of legislation that I have 
been able to accomplish, that is likely to be so influential 
for good. 

During the session of 1892, still another bill was passed 
putting childrens' homes under a nonpartisan administra- 
tion. This bill was introduced by Senator Marshall, and 
is a notable step forward. 

The campaign of education instituted by the Board of 
State Charities upon this subject of a nonpartisan ad- 
ministration of our public institutions has not been in 
vain, and now with boards of county visitors in all of our 
counties, whom we can easily educate to help us, I am 
very sure we shall make greater progress. In a republic, 
where the people is King, we must educate the King. 
It is a slow process, but once accomplished, it lasts. 

During the years 1885, 1886, I prepared several 
articles upon prison topics for the "Congregationalist," 
one of which was entitled "Duties to Discharged Prison- 
ers," and another upon "Prison Punishments," and both 
I think did good, but I can only give a brief abstract 
here: 



CONVENTIONS: CHARITABLE, ETC. 29 1 

"In our prisons as now constituted the liberation of a prisoner at 
the expiration of his sentence is a matter of small moment to the 
prison management. He has served his term and discharged his 
obligations to the state. The doors are opened, and as he goes out 
the books are closed with the doors, and the state ends all further 
interest in his welfare. The discharged prisoner, of course, goes 
where he is most welcome, and that, as a rule, is his old haunts, and 
among his old companions in crime, and 'the last state of that man 
is worse than the first. ' 

' 'In fact, in most cases, this is the only thing he can do, for so- 
ciety will not give him a chance to do anything else. The brand 
of Cain is upon him and every man's hand is against him. If he 
had leprosy, or small-pox, or yellow-fever, or cholera, the hospitals 
would be open to him, and he would have a chance to live, but as 
a discharged convict all doors are barred against him. If by false- 
hood or deceit he obtains a living without a breach of the law he 
has degraded his manhood, and must live in such constant dread 
of exposure that life is a burden. Under such circumstances, is 
it surprising that the statistics should show sixty per cent of dis- 
charged prisoners drift back again into lives of crime? Under 
the English system, all this is changed. Every prisoner, prior 
to his discharge, knows that if he desires to earn an honest living 
in freedom he can do so, and the ways and means are fully ex- 
plained to him, and as the prison door opens an agent of a pris- 
oners' aid association is waiting to receive him, and he can at once 
begin a new life, and earn his way without deceit or falsehood. His 
wages, of course, will be small until he can re-establish a character 
for capacity and trustworthiness; but he can live, and be at peace, 
and there is no necessity upon him either to lie or steal. In short, 
he has a chance to be an honest man, and all his surroundings and 
associations are such as to encourage him in that direction. With 
this simple statement of facts surely it is not necessary to enter 
into an argument to show the superiority of the English methods. 
The only question for consideration would seem to be, how can we 
put them into operation to the best advantage in America? 

"In the reformation of prisons in the United States the ameliora- 
tion of prison punishments, doubtless, has fairly kept pace with 
other improvements, and the more objectionable forms of physical 
torture, at least in Northern States, have been largely abandoned; 
but yet, compared with what has been accomplished elsewhere, we 
are evidently far behind the best experience of other nations, and 
the highest demands of Christian philanthropy. With very rare 



292 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

exceptions, our prison managers insist that complete prison dis- 
cipline cannot be maintained without the infliction of bodily pain, 
either by the lash or its equivalent, at least occasionally. 

"Possibly, in the hands of such a man as Brockway, at the El- 
mira Reformatory, the use of the strap, in exceptional cases, may 
not work any particular harm, and especially where no one but 
himself is permitted to use it; but the trouble is, that, where corpo- 
ral punishments are tolerated at all, there is constant danger of 
enormous abuses. Few men have ever lived who could safely be 
trusted with autocratic power, even in positions where bodily in- 
juries could not be inflicted, and what can we expect from prison 
autocrats, who, within the seclusion of high walls and barred doors, 
are intrusted with the lash, the thumb-screw, and various other in- 
struments of torture? In our own country, for a generation past, the 
laws of every state have forbidden cruel or unnecessary prison pun- 
ishments; and yet what horrors have been revealed in scores of offi- 
cial investigations. 

"In New York, Pennsylvania, and in most of the New England 
States, corporal punishments are prohibited, and so also in some 
Western States, and so far as reported no loss of discipline has fol- 
lowed, and it is to be hoped that these cruel and useless barba- 
risms will soon pass away." 



EVENTS FROM 1886 TO 1 89 1. 293 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Events from 1886 to 1891. 

Sherman-Hineman Park — Report of board for 1887 — Omaha Con- 
ference—Session at Lincoln — Trip to Colorado — National Prison 
Congress at Toronto — Ohio Centennial — The National Confer- 
ence of Charities and Correction for 1888 — The National Prison 
Congress— Annual report for 1889 — Baltimore Conference for 
1890 — National Prison Congress at Nashville — Rebuke of dueling 
by General Hayes — Cincinnati Prison Congress — Cold reception 
in Cincinnati — Board report for 1891 — Ohio State Conference — 
Legislation for 1891 — Indianapolis Conference. 

Among the enterprises in which I was interested in 
1886, the organization of the Sherman-Hineman Park 
was by no means the least. All my life I have been in- 
terested in parks. Raised in the country and accus- 
tomed to lakes and woodland, it was natural, when I 
came to the city, to seek such bits of country life as 
parks afforded. In Mansfield, I was a park promoter 
from the time I was a law student. First, I tried to 
save the Newman woods, on the south side of the city; 
then the Hedges woods, on the east; but my following 
was too small to accomplish anything. 

Iyater on, when Perkins Bigelow was mayor and un- 
dertook to transform the old Central Market space into a 
park, I was one of his most enthusiastic supporters, and 
we succeeded, after a hard fight. Still, Central Park' 
was but a small patch, and I yearned for more. How- 
ever, nothing came of it until 1886, when, in early 
August, I visited my daughter in Minneapolis. There I 
found a park system which is one of the finest in the 



294 RECOU^CTIONS OF A UFKTIME. 

world, and was made up by a combination of over thirty- 
parks and parkways. Coming home, I was full of park 
ideas, and one evening, in talking it over with my wife, 
a park conception for Mansfield flashed into my mind 
like an inspiration, and the Sherman-Hineman Park, 
substantially as we now have it, was visible to my mental 
vision. 

The Sherman woods I had thought of before, but it 
was unattainable and not large enough, but now I saw, 
by using the wild ravine between Park avenue (then 
Market) and the L,eesville road as a parkway and con- 
necting link with the valley of Tobey's run, we could 
have a park with great natural advantages and large 
enough for our present population. It so impressed me 
that I immediately wrote it up in the form of an inter- 
view, and by nine o'clock it was in the hands of the 
printers, and next morning it took up the larger part of 
a column in the ' 'Daily Herald" of August ioth. The 
proposition met general approval, and going down town, 
several leading citizens tendered financial aid to put it 
through. 

About noon, Mr. A. J. Hineman, who owned a farm 
where the north end of the proposed park would be lo- 
cated, came in and expressed his approval, and said if I 
could secure the lands south of his, he would donate all 
I wanted from his, and upon my request he made a writ- 
ten proposition to that effect. 

With this start, I called upon Senator Sherman, and 
he promptly agreed to donate his woodland, on condition 
of securing the intervening lands. We then called a 
meeting of the board of trade, and with a little effort 
secured subscriptions in money sufficient to purchase the 
intervening lands and some twenty-five acres in addition, 
adjoining the woodlands on the west. The result was, 
that in a few weeks, by donation, purchase, condemna- 



EVENTS FROM 1886 TO 1 89 1. 295 

tion, we had the present area of the Sherman- Hineman 
Park. 

This accomplished, we encountered the first serious 
obstacle to our enterprise, and that was the refusal of the 
city council to accept it as a free gift and care for it, and 
it required months of effort to overcome it, and except 
for the active aid and helpful rulings of the president of 
the council, Honorable C. K. McBride, we would have 
been compelled to wait for some more appreciative coun- 
cil in the future. However, in March, 1887, the park 
plant was accepted by the city, and a park commission, 
consisting of H. M. Weaver, M. B. Bushnell and myself, 
was duly appointed, and from that day to the present 
we have worked in hearty co-operation in the develop- 
ment of the park, which is equal in attractions to that of 
any other city of the size of Mansfield. 

To me the daily tramp for an hour or two through the 
park to look after the various improvements in progress 
has been a perennial source of health and pleasure, and 
to see the tired multitudes enjoy themselves is ample re- 
ward for whatever of time or money I may have con- 
tributed in the creation of the park. 

The Annual Report of the Board of State Charities for 
1887 indicates the range of our work for that year, and 
the special reports of committees upon the care of the 
insane, upon infirmaries and upon prisons and reforma- 
tories, upon all of which I was a member, indicates our 
aims, with reasons therefor. The report upon prisons 
and reformatories was written by me, and presents quite 
fully the situation as it existed at that time. 

The National Conference of Charities and Correction 
for 1887 was held at Omaha, Neb., August 25 to 31st 
with the exception of one session held in Lincoln. This 
was the third conference west of the Mississippi river, 
and the first of the three I was privileged to attend. A 



296 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

notable feature of this conference was the discussion for 
the first time of ' 'our duty to the African and Indian 
races," with valuable papers by General S. C. Armstrong, 
of Hampton, Va., and Philip C. Garret, of Philadelphia, 
and an address by Miss Alice Fletcher, of Boston, Mass. 
The address by Miss Fletcher was especially notewortl^, 
and in matter and manner was the finest presentation 
of the Indian question and of Indian characteristics I 
have ever heard. Miss Fletcher came in under the five 
minute rule, but by unanimous consent she was given 
unlimited time, and held the audience for an hour as I 
have never known an audience to be held by a woman 
before or since. Her long residence among the Indians, 
and her high culture, and attractive oratory made her 
address exceedingly interesting and instructive. 

Of course, the papers by General Armstrong and Mr. 
Garret were weighty, for upon the Indian topic there 
were no men in America more competent to speak, but 
they had not lived with wild Indians as Miss Fletcher 
had. 

On Saturday morning, August 27th, the conference 
took a special train for the city of Lincoln, under the 
escort of a committee appointed by the governor. Ar- 
riving at Iyincoln the members of the conference were 
drawn in carriages about the city, and visited the hospital 
for insane, the state penitentiary, and the Home for the 
Friendless, where refreshments were served. At 2:30 
p. m. the conference met in St. Paul's Church, where an 
address of welcome was made by Governor Thayer, and 
response by delegates. The regular program of the con- 
ference was then taken up, which was "The Contract 
I^abor System, ' ' which was opened by a paper by my- 
self, which was followed by discussion. My paper was 
a careful study of the whole prison labor topic in the 
light of statistics (conference report paper, 106 to 112), 



EVENTS FROM 1886 TO 1 89 1. 297 

and its conclusions, so far as I have heard, have never 
been controverted to this day. 

Fred H. Wines, who is our ablest penologist and statis- 
tician, in the discussion that followed, heartily approved 
my conclusions and said: "This covers the entire ground. 
You may illustrate these statements by instances and 
examples, by statistical tables of figures, but when you 
have arrived at the three conclusions announced by Gen- 
eral Brinkerhoff you are at the end of the subject, so far 
I understand it." Mr. Wines then took up the lease 
system of prison labor in Nebraska, in operation at the 
penitentiary we had just visited, and made such masterly 
presentation of its evils as to cause its entire abandon- 
ment in a few years. 

Another feature of the Omaha conference was the 
memorial service in honor of Barwick Baker, of England, 
recently deceased, in which Wm. P. L,etchworth, of New 
York, Fred H. Wines, of Illinois, and I participated. 
(Conference Report, 328-335.) My memorial, in reality, 
was but a faint expression of my admiration for the man 
and my obligations to him. My correspondence with 
him would make an interesting volume and a very in- 
structive one. A general idea of the work accomplished 
by him and his methods can be had by the perusal of a 
book entitled "War With Crime," recently published 
and containing selections from his papers. Upon the 
whole, the Nebraska conference was able in its deliver- 
ances and fruitful in its results. 

After the close of the Omaha conference, having two 
weeks to spare before the Toronto Prison Congress, I 
took a trip to Colorado and the canyons of the Rocky 
Mountains. It was my first experience upon our mid- 
continent plains, and as I left Omaha on the Union 
Pacific Railroad, and hour after hour rolled westward 
along the valley of the Platte river, I was impressed with 



298 RECOU/JXTIONS OF A I.IFKTIMH. 

a sense of the vastness of our country I had never felt 
before. I have been over these plains repeatedly since, 
and they are always awe inspiring. I have never ex- 
perienced a similar feeling except in the loneliness of 
mid-ocean. There is nothing else upon the earth, not 
even the lordly mountains, that makes men seem so 
little and God so great. 

At last we were in sight of the Rocky Mountains, 
which were my main objective in this trip, and the more 
I saw of them the greater they grew. My first trip 
among them was from Denver along the base of the 
mountains to Golden, and thence through the Clear 
Creek canyons, via Georgetown, to Idaho Springs, sur- 
rounded by great mountains, where I spent a delightful 
day, and then went on to Silver Plume, where we spent 
some hours in the mines. Thence returning to Denver, 
I took the Denver Rio Grande Railroad up the Platte 
canyons to L,eadville, through the heart of the Rockies. 
From I^eadville, we went down the Arkansas through 
that wonder, the Royal Gorge, to Canyon City, and 
thence eastward to Pueblo and northward to Colorado 
Springs, and took in the Garden of the Gods and the 
Manitou caverns at the foot of Pike's Peak. Then, sur- 
feited with mountain scenery, I went north to Denver 
and took the Kansas Pacific Railroad eastward, through 
the restful quietness and solemn silence of the great 
plains, and thence onward through Illinois, Michigan 
and Canada to Toronto, where I arrived in time for the 
prison congress. This trip was only two weeks long, 
but it seemed a century in the magnitude of the impres- 
sions it imparted. 

The Toronto Prison Congress (September 10th to 15th) 
was the first and only time the American Prison Asso- 
ciation convened outside of the boundaries of the United 
States. Toronto is a notable city in many ways, and is 



EVENTS PROM 1 886 TO 1 89 1. 299 

probably the best governed city upon the American con- 
tinent. Certainly it is a hospitable city, as I can testify 
from repeated visits. Certainly the prison congress has 
never been more handsomely entertained than it was at 
Toronto in 1887. The opening session of the congress 
was held in the pavilion of the Horticultural Gardens 
with Mayor Howland in the chair. 

Addresses were made by Sir Alexander Campbell, 
lieutenant-governor of Ontario, Mayor Howland, G. W. 
Ross, minister of education, Mr. Goldwin Smith and the 
Hon. S. H. Blake, chairman or the local committee, 
after which Mayor Howland introduced the president of 
the congress very happily, as follows: "We have really 
before us the greatest pleasure of the evening. Now we 
are going to hear from a late citizen king. Isn't it a 
glorious thing, in the march of the people nowadays, to 
think that, instead of a man fighting to retain a position 
he has held by the grace of the people, he returns like 
Cincinnatus, to his farm, and becomes a citizen again! 
How gladly we welcome him ! With what interest we 
look upon him! I have great pleasure in introducing to 
you the President of the National Prison Association, 
and I think that title a greater honor than to call him the 
late President of the United States." 

President Hayes, in view of the fact, doubtless, that 
the prison congress was practically unknown in Canada, 
outlined its history and purposes, and did it very well. 
The next day (Sunday) the annual sermon of the con- 
gress was delivered at St. James' cathedral by Rev. Wm. 
Searles, bishop of Huron, and its presentation of what 
ought to be the attitude of Christians toward prisoners, 
was very able and very convincing. 

The next four days were taken up with the regular 
program of the congress, with the exception of the 
afternoons, which as usual were given to the visitation of 



300 RECOLLECTIONS OE A LIFETIME. 

the local institutions. Among the topics considered, the 
most noteworthy, perhaps, were the Bertillon system of 
measurements, the duties of prison wardens, the inde- 
terminate sentence, prisons for women, county jails, and 
discharged prisoners. The address of Mayor Rowland 
upon discharged prisoners was the star performance of 
the congress, and will never be forgotten by those who 
heard it. 

President Hayes was compelled to leave us on Tues- 
day, so that it fell to my lot as vice-president to preside 
over the congress during the last two days, and as my 
closing address was a review of its various sessions at 
Toronto I repeat it here. (Pages 317 to 322, Report of 
Toronto Congress.) 

' 'The Toronto congress has been one of the largest yet 
held. Eighteen of the United States have been repre- 
sented, as also the Dominion of Canada and England. 
About one hundred delegates are registered, of whom 
about ninety are from the United States. Of these a 
large majority are practical prison men, actually engaged 
in prison work. When we remember the prisons are 
limited in number — there being only two or three in a 
state — it is evident that whatever we have of prison ex- 
perience and prison knowledge upon the American con- 
tinent is most likely to be found in the membership of 
this congress. With very few exceptions, all of the 
great prisons of the United States have been represented 
upon this floor by their wardens. 

' 'To the cursory visitor coming in from time to time to 
listen to the discussions upon this floor, it may have 
seemed that there is little unity of faith among the mem- 
bers of the congress; and, hearing them refuse to pass 
any resolutions indorsing any special propositions per- 
taining to penology, he may have concluded that the 
congress has no convictions upon which we are agreed. 



EVENTS FROM 1886 TO 1 89 1. 301 

This, however, would be a grave mistake. The National 
Prison Congress does not meet to formulate penological 
dogmas, but to interchange experiences and to consider 
remedies. We listen to all things and hold fast to that 
which is good, believing that the evolution of time and 
the survival of the fittest will determine better than res- 
olutions that which is enduring and true. Still it would 
not be wise to conclude that the congress does not believe 
anything. On the contrary, it would be very easy to 
formulate a creed of more than thirty-nine articles, upon 
which we are an absolute unit in our convictions; but so 
long as human conclusions are fallible, we desire to keep 
ourselves in a position of perfect freedom to adopt any 
modifications that time may bring to our knowledge. To 
one familiar with the sessions of this congress since its 
organization, it is easy to indicate what its convictions 
are, and it has been the habit of our distinguished presi- 
dent, who unfortunately is absent to-night, to recapitu- 
late the topics under discussion, and indicate our concen- 
sus of belief, and, if you will bear with me for a few 
moments, I will endeavor to imitate in a small way my 
illustrious predecessor. 

' 'Taking up the first topic under discussion, ' 'The Moral 
and Religious Care of Prisoners," the members of this 
congress believe in both with absolute unanimity. They 
know that prison reform, as now understood in the world, 
is the outgrowth of Christianity, as certainly as the oak 
is the outgrowth of an acorn, and that all future growth 
and progress must be rooted in the teachings of the Di- 
vine Nazarene. They may differ as to the ways and 
means of bringing those precepts to bear upon prisoners, 
but as to its necessity there is no question. 

"So also with education in all its lines — whether moral, 
intellectual, or industrial — there is no difference of opin- 
ion as to its necessity, and they believe that under its 



302 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

influence the time is coming, and now is, when a large 
majority of prisoners within the formative period of life 
may be returned to liberty as law-abiding and self-sup- 
porting citizens. 

"So again, upon the subject of prison labor, there is no 
difference of opinion among us as to its necessity. With- 
out it there can be no discipline, no progress, no reforma- 
tion, no intelligent prison administration. We believe 
also that prison labor has no appreciable effect on free 
labor, either in the prices of products or wages. How 
can it have when the product of convict labor in the 
United States, as compared with free labor in the same 
industries, is less than two per cent. , and the total prod- 
ucts of convict labor, as compared with the total product 
of free labor, is only fifty-four one-hundredths of one per 
cent ? As to the systems of prison labor, there is doubt- 
less a difference of opinion among us, but that is only a 
matter of detail, to be determined by the circumstances 
of the locality in which the prison is built, and the class 
of prisoners to be employed. In Ohio, where we are 
grading our prisoners so as to have life prisoners and in- 
corrigibles in one prison, and young men under thirty, 
convicted of their first offense, in another, we are inclined 
to adopt for the first prison that system which will make 
the most money for the state, and in the second whatever 
system will most conduce to the reformation of the pris- 
oner. In our reformatory for boys and in our reforma- 
tory for girls we consider the question of labor the same 
as in our public schools — no more and no less. In the 
matter of prison labor, however, we are satisfied that 
more depends upon the efficiency of administration than 
upon the system adopted. Under an inefficient partisan 
administration, where reformation of the prisoner has no 
place, the contract system is undoubtedly the best, for it 
will make money without any risk; but if the reformation 



EVENTS FROM 1886 TO 1 89 1. 30^ 

it the prisoner is to be the main object, then some other 
system must be adopted, and trained officers and a civil 
service administration is a necessity. 

"In the matter of the indeterminate sentence, the Na- 
tional Prison Congress is steadily and surely growing up 
to the conviction of its absolute necessity, if any great 
progress is to be made in the reformation of criminals. 
In fact, I believe it is safe to say that that conviction has 
already been reached, so far at least as relates to sen- 
tences of young men under thirty years of age, convicted 
of their first offense. It believes also that prisoners who 
have indicated, by a third conviction, that they are in- 
corrigibly criminal, should be sentenced for life, and 
should not be paroled, at least till they have served the 
maximum period fixed by law for the crime for which 
they have been convicted. 

"In the matter of city and county jails, the National 
Prison Congress has never had but one opinion, since I 
have attended its annual sessions, and its belief is that 
the average American jail is an offense against God and 
humanity, and that no large results can be attained in 
checking the rising tide of crime until it is abolished. 
We believe there is but one remedy, and that is the abso- 
lute separation of prisoners, so that no prisoner shall 
come in contact with- any other prisoner. In Ohio we are 
building all our new jails to secure this result. We have 
at Mansfield one which has been operated upon this plan 
for nearly five years, and I hope, by the time another 
congress meets, to be able to report that a law of the state 
enforces it in every jail where its construction admits of 
such separation. We believe also that the county jail 
should be solely a place of detention for prisoners await- 
ing trial, and that convicted prisoners should be sent to 
district workhouses or to the penitentiary, as the gravity 
of the offense may indicate. This result has already beer 



304 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

secured in part, in Ohio, by authorizing counties to send 
their misdemeanants to the workhouses at Cleveland and 
Cincinnati, and quite a number have availed themselves 
of the privilege. 

"In the matter of United States prisoners, which has 
been upon the program this year, and has been discussed 
in previous congresses, there is now a substantial unan- 
imity of conviction that they should be cared for in fed- 
eral prisons, in charge of federal officials. For a great 
government like ours to convict its citizens of violations 
of its laws, and then turn them over to the tender mer- 
cies of officials over whom it has no control and in whose 
appointment it has no voice, is a shame and disgrace 
which ought to be corrected, and that most speedily. In 
this conviction, the President and the department of jus- 
tice at Washington are heartily in accord with us, and I 
am very certain the next congress will correct it. 

"In the matter of discharged prisoners, there is no dif- 
ference of opinion among the members of the prison 
congress. They believe that the post-penitentiary treat- 
ment of prisoners is fully as important in their reforma- 
tion as that within the prison walls. In fact, without 
proper care after discharge, very little can be expected 
from their treatment prior to discharge. In my judg- 
ment, the main efficiency of English prisons over Amer- 
ican prisons results from separate confinement in county 
jails and from police supervision and prisoners' aid asso- 
ciations after discharge. 

"In regard to penal colonies, as advocated in a brilliant 
paper before the congress to-day, it is hardly necessary 
for me to say that it has no indorsers in the National 
Prison Association, either here or elsewhere. It is a 
relic of the eighteenth century, which was substantially 
abandoned in the first half of the nineteenth century, 



EVENTS FROM 1886 TO 1 89 1. 305 

and it is too late to revive its horrors at the beginning of 
the twentieth century. 

"In the matter of interstate extradition, which is on 
our program and has been frequently referred to in our 
discussions, there is no difference of opinion among the 
members of the National Prison Association. We don't 
want the criminals of Canada, any more than you want 
ours, and our governments ought to correct the evil by 
an extradition treaty. Personally, I believe not only in 
a free exchange of criminals, but in a free exchange of 
products. Here are two countries lying side by side, 
with the same language, the same laws and the same 
destiny not far away, and it seems to me to be the 
height of folly, nay, it is a crime against civilization, to 
build a wall, visible or invisible, between us. Blood is 
thicker than water. We may have different flags, but 
we have the same destiny. As enemies, we shall go 
glimmering into the dream of things that were, and gov- 
ernments by the people for the people will pass away. 
United in a federation of English speaking races, we can 
rule the world and dictate the policies of nations. 

' 'And now we come to the end of this conference. We 
have met as mariners sometimes meet upon the boundless 
sea; we have exchanged courtesies and experiences; and 
now, as we separate and sail for our several ports, we do 
so with kindly greetings and with a prayer to Him who 
shapes our destinies, that we may be guided in the ways 
of truth and righteousness, and that our communion to- 
gether may be for the elevation of humanity and the 
progress of the race. 

'%et us remember that the secret of happiness is in 

service to others, and that the only way to get good, in 

this world or in the world to come, is to do good. And 

now, on behalf of those who have come with me from 

20 



306 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the great republic of the star-crowned flag, I extend to 
the citizens of Toronto heartfelt acknowledgments for 
the royal welcome and entertainment we have received, 
and bid you all a kind good-night. ' ' 

The year 1888 was the centennial anniversary of the 
settlement of Ohio. Through the suggestion of our 
archaeological and historical society, a celebration was 
held in Marietta, the proceedings of which are embodied 
in a volume. As vice-president of the society, I was 
present and participated. A still more important sug- 
gestion of our society was the holding of a centennial ex- 
position in the place of the usual state fair. This idea 
was adopted by the general assembly, and I was ap- 
pointed one of the members of the board of managers. 

The Board of State Charities through its secretary, 
organized for this exposition an exhibit of our public in- 
stitutions, an account of which is given in our report for 
that year. Necessarily, a good deal of my time and 
thought was taken up by centennial matters, but still I 
did my usual work upon the Board of State Charities and 
attended the National Conference of Charities and Cor- 
rections and the National Prison Congress. 

The Conference of Charities and Correction for 1888, 
was held at Buffalo, and the attendance was large, and 
its proceedings were of great interest. In this conference 
I took no special part in papers or discussions, but was 
present at all sessions. The hospitality of the city was 
very generous, and entertainments and excursions were 
numerous and among the latter a trip to Niagara Falls. 
The conference extended from July 5th to nth, and in 
numbers and ability was one of the largest we have held. 

The president of the conference was Charles S. Hoyt, 
M.D., one of its charter members, and secretary of the 
New York Board of State Charities from its creation in 
1866. His recent death, while still in active service, re- 



EVENTS FROM 1886 TO 1891. 307 

calls the fact that he was probably longer in official 
charitable work than any other man in America. He 
was a man of high intelligence and broad sympathies, 
and as a wise counselor, his presence at our annual meet- 
ings will be greatly missed. 

The deliverances of this conference have rarely been 
equaled and some of its papers were monumental for 
their excellence. Among the latter were the Report of 
the Committee on Insanity, by Stephen Smith, M.D.; 
the Report of the Committee on the Feeble- Minded and 
Blind, by the veteran specialist, Isaac N. Kerlin, M.D.: 
Municipal Charities and Correction, by Hon. Seth L,ow, 
of Brooklyn, N. Y., since president of Columbia College; 
The Reformation of Prisoners, by Rev. F. H. Wines; 
Immigration to the United States, by Philip C. Garret, of 
Philadelphia; and the Tribe of Ishmael, by Rev. Oscar 
C. McCullough, of Indianapolis. The paper last men- 
tioned attracted more attention than any of the others. 
It was a protracted study of the effects of heredity in a 
single pauper family. It was suggested by the famous 
Jukes family described by Dr. Dugdale, but extended 
over a larger field, comprising over two hundred and 
fifty families. It was illustrated by elaborate statistical 
charts, which are not included in the published report of 
the conference, but as a presentation of a persistent and 
painstaking investigation of pauper heredity, it has prob- 
ably never been equaled before or since. 

The National Prison Congress for 1888 was held in 
Boston, July 14th to 19th, following the Buffalo confer- 
ence. On the way, I stopped two days at the State 
Reformatory for Boys, at Rochester, to study the in- 
dustrial features introduced by Superintendent Fulton, 
and was greatly interested and instructed. At Boston, as 
might have been expected, the congress was better ap- 
preciated than elsewhere, and its sessions in the repre- 



308 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

sentatives' chamber at the capitol were fully attended. In 
the way of entertainments and excursions, the members 
of the congress were never cared for more royally. 
Among the excursions was one to the reformatory for 
young men at Concord, and the prison for women at 
Sherborn, and another to the penitentiary at Charles- 
town. The papers and discussions at the Boston con- 
gress were specially noteworthy in giving attention to 
the reformation of prisoners rather than to prison 
economics. Mr. Brockway had written to me that he 
thought it was time for the congress to get beyond the 
discussion of buckets and brooms and consider principles 
rather than methods. The Boston congress did this 
more largely than ever before, and we have never gone 
back to a lower plane. 

To this trend of the congress the annual sermon by 
Phillips Brooks doubtless gave an impetus, and possibly 
the keynote, when he declared that ' 'the great purpose 
of imprisonment should be reformation with the imme- 
diate prevention of crime only as the subordinate neces- 
sity," and that "vengeance belonged to God alone." 

Certainly "buckets and brooms" did not appear to any 
appreciable extent in the Boston congress, and since then 
they have practically disappeared from our public dis- 
cussions. The declaration of Professor Wayland, of Yale 
College, made a day or two after that of Bishop Brooks, 
is now the concensus of prison congress, viz.: "that the 
object of imprisonment is to protect society by the 
reformation of the offender." The notion of retri- 
bution or punitive penalty has been pretty generally 
abandoned by all those who have devoted any intelligent 
attention to the subject. 

The Ohio annual report for 1889 was written by me, 
and indicates the subjects to which the board gave special 



EVENTS FROM 1886 TO 1 89 1. 309 

attention that year. The seed sown was in good ground 
and the fruitage in many ways has since been gathered. 

The National Conference of Charities and Correction 
was held in 1889 in San Francisco, and was the second 
one I have failed to attend. The time required was 
more than I could spare at that time, and so I did not go. 

The National Prison Congress for 1889 was held in 
Nashville, Tennessee, in November, and was interesting 
and profitable. General Hayes and I went together, and 
on our way we discussed among many other subjects, 
that of the custom still prevailing in the South, of the 
duello system, which now takes form in bloody encount- 
ers. Two old friends and official appointees of General 
Hayes had recently killed each other, at Iyexington, 
Kentucky, and the tragedy excited general attention. 

General Hayes seemed to feel that something ought to 
be done to create a public sentiment against the practice, 
and I suggested that his opening address at Nashville 
could be utilized for that purpose. 

I said to him that no other man from the North could 
speak so effectively. As President he had endeared him- 
self to the Southern people, and they certainly would 
give him respectful consideration, and his record as a 
soldier was such as emphasized his advise. General 
Hayes seemed doubtful as to the propriety of such an ad- 
dress, and we dropped the subject. 

In the evening I noticed an article, quoted from the 
"I/misville Courier- Journal," deprecating the Kentucky 
tragedy, and I took it up to General Hayes and asked 
him to read it. I did not see him again until he came 
upon the platform. The audience was very large and 
comprised the best people of the city, and the opportu- 
nity for the address I had counseled was splendid. He 
started in with a general response to the addresses of 
welcome, and then read his address from manuscript, and 



3IO RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

finished it without reference to the subject I had urged 
upon him: However, he laid down his manuscript and 
commenced by saying, "And now there is one other mat- 
ter which is not in my paper, but of which I wish to 
speak," and then concluded his address extemporaneously 
as printed in the official report. Paul on Mars Hill was 
not more impressive, but the great audience listened to 
the end in absolute silence, and at the close there was no 
response. It was a brave and noble appeal, but whether 
it did good or not I do not know. The congress was 
well attended throughout, and every courtesy was ex- 
tended to its members. Among the latter were excur- 
sions to the Hermitage, and to the convict camps. My 
contribution to the papers of the congress was one en- 
titled, "What to do with Recidivists," and for the first 
time brought that subject up. I also participated in the 
discussions. 

The work of our board was hampered a good deal in 
1890 by the failing health of the secretary, Dr. A. G. 
Byers, which ended in November in his death. Dr. 
Byers had been the secretary of the board from its organ- 
ization in 1867, and to his ability, fidelity and devotion 
to its work its usefulness was largely due, but still much 
was accomplished notwithstanding his loss. Our report 
for 1890 was written by John G. Doren, then a member, 
and who succeeded Dr. Byers as secretary. This report 
was a resume of the work of the board from its beginning, 
and is one of the most valuable we have published. 

The National Conference of Charities and Corrections 
for 1890 was held in Baltimore (May 14-21), and was 
presided over by Dr. Byers, our secretary, and was his 
last public appearance. Baltimore is one of the best con- 
vention cities in the Union, and our conference was very 
large, and received every needed attention. The Baltimore 
volume is one of the largest and most valuable yet issued. 



EVENTS EROM 1 886 TO 1 89 1. 311 

Aside from the discussions, my only contribution to this 
conference was a paper entitled "The Prison Sunday" 
and an address at the Unitarian Church, Sunday evening, 
May 18. (Annual report, pages 309 and 403.) 

The Baltimore conference was a notable one in many 
ways. Baltimore as a city is one of the most attractive 
on the continent, and is full of historic associations, 
all of which, through the courtesy of the local committee, 
we were enabled to inspect. Baltimore also is high up in 
its philanthropic and educational institutions, and some 
of them, like the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns 
Hopkins University, are models for the nation. In deal- 
ing with criminals, Baltimore also jranks high, and its 
Prisoners' Aid Association is probably the most effective 
of any in this country, and its penitentiary in construc- 
tion and management is one of the best. 

The president of the Baltimore conference was my old 
friend and co-worker on the Ohio Board of State Chari- 
ties, Dr. A. G. Byers, and it was his last appearance upon 
a public platform, for he was even then quite feeble, and 
passed away a few months later. His closing address and 
benediction were exceedingly pathetic, for, like St. Paul 
at Ephesus, he felt ' 'they would see his face no more. ' ' 

The papers and discussions of the conference were on 
a high plane, and its annual volume is of special value 
it could not well be otherwise with men on the platform 
so eminent in their specialties as Dr. Henry M. Hurd, 
Dr. Richard Gundry, Dr. I. N. Kerlin, F. B. Sanborn, 
Mrs. Charles Russell Lowell, Rev. Fred. H. Wines, Na- 
thaniel S. Rosenow, and Chas. D. Kellogg. 

The National Prison Congress for 1890 was held in 
Cincinnati, September 25 to 30, and was the twentieth 
anniversary of that association, which was organized in 
that city in 1870. The congress was large and one of the 
most interesting we have held, but for some reason the 



312 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

press and people of Cincinnati gave it little or no atten- 
tion. We have never been so shabbily treated in any 
other city, and it was a great grief to me. The governor 
also failed to be present, and telegraphed me to take his 
place, and the result was unusual and trying responsibili- 
ties were heaped upon me. The chairman of the local 
committee also failed to put in an appearance, and the 
result was I had a hard time of it, but I did the best I 
could for the conference, and with the help of two or three 
members of the local committee we made the delegates 
fairly comfortable. The volume for 1890 is one of the 
best we have published. I participated in the discussions, 
but presented no paper. The National Prison Congress 
will never meet again in Cincinnati so long as the mem- 
ory of its treatment by the press of that city remains. 

It is fair to say, however, that the citizens of Cincin- 
nati were not to blame, and for the simple reason that the 
press so utterly ignored the congress that the citizens did 
not know of its presence to any appreciable extent, and 
of course they could not manifest an interest. Those of 
us who know Cincinnati are all aware that there are hun- 
dreds of people in that city as cultured, as patriotic and 
as philanthropic as can be found anywhere, but appar- 
ently they are not sufficiently numerous as newspaper 
patrons to compete with the classes who are interested in 
reports of horse races, base ball, prize fights and bloody 
murders. At any rate this was the general judgment of 
the members of the National Prison Congress for 1890. 

In formulating the report of the Board of State Chari- 
ties, in 1 89 1, a new method was adopted. Instead of 
assigning it to a single member of the board the various 
topics were distributed among the members, so that each 
member should haye, at least, one topic, and then at a 
general meeting all to be harmonized into a connected 
whole, subject to the old rule that a single objection to 



KVKNTS FROM 1886 TO 1 89 1. 313 

any paragraph should rule it out, and that matters should 
not be recommended except by unanimous vote. This 
method, upon the whole, seemed better than the old, as 
it brings more thought and study to the several topics, 
and is likely to continue. My topics for the year were, 
"Boards of County Visitors," "The Insane and Sub- 
topics," "Epileptics," "County Jails," "Girls' Industrial 
Home," "The Boys' Industrial School," "The Ohio 
State Reformatory," "The Parole Law," and "The Ohio 
Penitentiary." 

In the line of our work the year 1891 is notable in the 
establishment of a State Conference of Charities and 
Correction, of which the first annual .meeting was held at 
Columbus, January 19 to 22, inclusive. Previous to this 
year separate conferences had been held by county in- 
firmary officials, children's homes, county commissioners 
and county sheriffs; but we had long felt that if all these 
organizations could be brought together, it would be a 
great improvement. 

The death of Dr. Byers postponed for a year such a 
conference, but finally a program was formulated at a 
conference of workers, and sent out by our secretary, 
Mr. Doren, and at the time appointed about one hundred 
and fifty delegates appeared. Before the congress con- 
vened Mr. Doren was legislated out of office, and the re- 
sult was the work of organizing and shaping the confer- 
ence, for the most part, devolved upon me. 

The outcome, however, with all the drawbacks, was 
very satisfactory, as the reports of papers, and discuss- 
ions, published as an appendix to the report of the 
Board of State Charities, will abundantly testify. As a 
means of improvement to the workers in the various 
fields represented, and of educating a healthy public 
sentiment, our annual conference is of the highest value, 
and promises to become a permanent institution. 



314 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

In 1 89 1 we succeeded in securing legislation for the 
establishment of a state asylum for epileptics, which is 
the first of its kind in America. Our board had pressed 
upon the attention of the legislature for years, the 
necessity of such an institution, and almost every year, 
during the previous decade, I had written it up for our 
reports, and for the newspapers, and of course I was 
personally greatly gratified in its final triumph. 

It was on account of my special interest in the institu- 
tion, I suppose, that led to my selection as orator at the 
cornerstone ceremonies on the twelfth of November of 
that year, a report of which is published as appendix 
"A" in our report for 1891. 

Another step forward in the legislature of 1 891 -'92 
was the revision of the law authorizing the appointment 
of boards of county visitors, and making their appoint- 
ment mandatory upon the courts. I rewrote the law 
entirely, and enlarged its scope, and made it wholly non- 
partisan, like the Board of State Charities, and it was 
adopted without amendment, and without opposition. 

As I have already said, I do not think I have ever ac- 
complished anything of greater value, than the creating 
of these boards of county visitors, and now that they 
exist in every one of the eighty-eight counties of the 
state, their influence for good is emphasized year by year. 

The legislation of special importance of 1891, recom- 
mended by the Board of State Charities and enacted into 
laws by the general assembly, were: 1. The law re- 
quiring the separation of prisoners in all jails, wherein 
the construction of a jail would permit. 2. The amend- 
ment of the parole law so as to require the recommenda- 
tions of the warden and chaplain, and notice given by 
publication before a parole could be considered by the 
board of managers. 3. A law for the organization and 
government of the Ohio State Reformatory, and which 



EVENTS FROM 1 886 TO 1 89 1. 315 

marks a new era in the management of our state institu- 
tions. 

After the law was prepared and printed, a joint meet- 
ing of the Board of State Charities, and of the trustees 
of the reformatory was called, and we spent an entire 
day in consideration of its provisions, section by section, 
and I then took the amendments agreed upon, and 
through my senator (Senator Kerr) had them embodied 
in the bill upon its passage, and my recollection is the 
bill as amended passed both houses without a dissenting 
vote. A report of these several acts of legislature was 
made by me to the. National Conference of Charities and 
Correction of that year, at Indianapolis, which can be 
found in the annual report, page 220. 

The National Conference of Charities and Corrections 
for 1 89 1 was held at Indianapolis, May 13th to 20th, and 
the number of delegates present was larger than at any 
previous conference. Rev. Oscar C. McCulloch, of In- 
dianapolis, was president, and the fame of his philan- 
thropic activities in that city and his attractive personal- 
ity doubtless had much to do in bringing out so large an 
attendance. 

The regular program of the conference included a wide 
range of subjects; but topics specially emphasized were 
"Child Saving," "The Care of the Insane and Feeble- 
Minded," and "Public Outdoor Relief for the Poor." 

The committee on penal and reformatory systems also 
made an excellent report, and a paper of great value 
upon the public charities of Europe was read by the Hon. 
F. B. Sanborn, of Massachusetts, which occupies twenty 
pages of the conference report, and was the result of 
personal observation and wide travel in foreign lands. 

An interesting feature of this conference was a special 
service in memory of Rev. A. G. Byers, the president of 
the conference a year previous. This was introduced by 



316 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

an obituary prepared by Rev. Fred. H. Wines, which, as 
a discriminating review of a human life, I have never 
heard surpassed. 

In the service quite a number of the old friends of Dr. 
Byers participated, and among them myself. My eulogy 
was wholly impromptu, and was not as full as I would 
have been glad to have made it, if I had had the time 
for preparation. Certainly in Ohio he was our foremost 
philanthropist, and gave his life to the work with the 
devotion and self-sacrifice of a missionary in heathen 
lands. He had been educated as a physician and as a 
minister of the gospel, and with his ability and eloquence 
he could have attained distinction and large pecuniary 
rewards; but, for the love of God and humanity, he gave 
his life to the betterment of the conditions surrounding 
the defective, dependent and criminal classes, practically 
without pay, for the salary he received from the state 
was inadequate for his support, and had to be supple- 
mented by contributions from members of our board who 
appreciated the value of his services. 

Repeatedly he received invitations to similar work in 
other states, and in one instance with the offer of a sal- 
ary more than three times as great as he was receiving. 
I advised him to accept it as a duty to his family, but he 
declined on the ground that he could do more good 
in Ohio than it would be possible elsewhere among 
strangers. 

Dr. Byers, like most reformers and prophets, was not 
appreciated in his lifetime as he should have been. 

The National Prison Congress for 1891 was held in 
Pittsburgh, October 10-14, with President Hayes in the 
chair at all regular sessions. The opening services were 
in the music hall of the Carnegie library building, and 
other meetings in the Carnegie lecture hall. 

The congress, in point of numbers and in its deliver- 



EVENTS FROM 1886 TO 1 89 1. 317 

ances, was well up to the standard of previous years, and 
several of its papers were of special value. One of these, 
by Dr. Roland P. Falkner, of Pennsylvania, upon "Crim- 
inal Statistics, ' ' presented the comparative results of an 
exhaustive study of all the leading prisons of the United 
States and Canada. 

Two papers gave account of recent observations in for- 
eign prisons : the first by Warden M. J. Cassady, of 
Pennsylvania, in Ireland, England, France and Belgium; 
and the other by Hon. Chas. F. Coffin, of Indiana, on 
English prisons compared with our own, both of which 
were very instructive. There was also a valuable paper 
upon "Discipline in Female Prisons," by Mrs. Ellen C. 
Johnson, superintendent of the female prison at Sher- 
born, Mass. Another interesting paper upon a topic new 
to the congress was that of Captain J. W. Pope, entitled 
"Crimes and Criminals of the United States Army " 



318 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Conventions and Travels. 

Changes in Boards of State Charities — Report of board for 1892 — 
Denver Conference — The Indian question — Tributes to Oscar 
McColloch — Trip to the Pacific slope — Colorado Springs— Salt 
Lake City — Carson City— California— Oregon, Washington and 
Yellowstone Park — Hospitalities — National Prison Congress in 
Baltimore — Journey with General Hayes — Ohio State Confer- 
ence — Conference for 1893 at Chicago — Death of General 
Hayes — Correspondence with Ex-President Harrison — Presi- 
dent of the Prison Congress — President of the Ohio Archaeo- 
logical and Historical Society. 

The years 1891-92 were under the administration of 
Governor James K. Campbell, and upon the removal of 
Mr. Doren from the board, he appointed Mr. M. D. Follett, 
ex- judge of the supreme court, to fill the vacancy. Judge 
Follette was an old friend, and had been interested in phil- 
anthropic work for many years, and had accompanied me 
a number of times to our national conferences, and he at 
once became an important and useful member. 

The report of our board for 1892, the same as that of 
1 89 1, was made up of contributions from the several 
members. My part was upon "The Custodial Care of 
Adult Idiots;" "Boards of County Visitors;" and "The 
Ohio State Reformatory." 

The State Conference of Charities and Correction for 
this year was held at Cleveland, and was a great suc- 
cess. Its proceedings were published as an appendix to 
our annual report, and the papers presented, together 
with the discussions, will compare favorably with the na- 



CONVENTIONS AND TRAVELS. 319 

tioual conference, and even in numbers it equaled the 
early years of the national conference. Unlike Cincin- 
nati, at the National Prison Congress, the Cleveland pa- 
pers published a full abstract of proceedings daily. Ex- 
president Hayes was present, and responded to the ad- 
dress of welcome, and participated in the subsequent pro- 
ceedings. Among those present from abroad were H. H. 
Hart, of Minnesota, and Alexander Johnson, of Indiana, 
and both took an active part in the discussions. 

The National Conference of Charities and Correction 
this year was held in Denver, Colorado, and was largely 
attended. The Conference has never received a more 
cordial reception than it received from the people of 
Denver. 

My part in the conference was a response to the ad- 
dress of welcome, and participation in the discussions, as 
presented in the annual report. 

The opening exercises of the Denver Conference were 
especially noteworthy, and as I stated in response to the 
address of welcome, the audience was larger than an3>- 
we had ever seen on a similar occasion. 

The papers and discussions of the conference covered 
a wide field, and were uniformly able and instructive, and 
the annual volume containing them is very valuable for 
reference and study. 

The Indian question was again very fully considered 
in half a dozen papers, one of which was "The Prepara- 
tion of the Indian for Citizenship," by Alice C. Fletcher, 
who so enraptured the Omaha Conference, as I have 
heretofore described. Another, on "The Advantages of 
Mingling Indians with Whites," was by Captain R. H. 
Pratt, the superintendent of the government school at 
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, than whom no one has had 
greater experience or success in dealing with the Indian 
educational problem. Still another valuable paper on 



3 2D RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the education of Indians was presented by Presidant 
William S. Slocum, Jr., of the University of Colorado. 

One session was given to memorial tributes to Oscar C. 
McCulloch, president of the Indianapolis Conference in 
1S91, whose recent decease was greatly mourned by 
every member of the national conference. He had been 
with us for years, and he was beloved by all, and his 
contributions to the literature of the conference were of 
the highest value. No one in his generation ranked 
higher as a philanthropist, and the results of his labors 
in Indianapolis, in dealing with the dependent classes, 
has not been equaled so far as I have knowledge by any 
single individual in any other city. 

The tributes to his memory by Isabel C. Barrows, 
Alexander Johnson, Rabbi Berkowitz and the Reverend 
Myron W. Reed, all of whom had known him intimately, 
were admirable. 

In company with my daughter and granddaughter, we 
left Mansfield on the evening train on the B. & O. Rail- 
road, June 20, 1892, and reached Chicago in the morning 
of the 21st, and waited until 10 p. m. in order to take the 
special train engaged for delegates to the National Con- 
ference of Charities and Correction, which held its nine- 
teenth annual session at Denver, commencing in the 
evening of June 23. 

Chicago was full of delegates, and others, in attend- 
ance at the Democratic Presidential Convention then in 
session, and the thermometer was at ninely-five degrees, 
but we managed to put in the day without serious dis- 
comfort, and left on time for the West. As most of the 
passengers were old acquaintances the trip was delight- 
ful, and we reached Denver at noon of the second day. 

The conference continued for a week, and then we left 
Denver on the evening of June 30, stopping off at Colo- 
rado Springs, where we held a session of the conference, 



CONVENTIONS AND TRAVELS. 32 1 

and visited the Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, and 
then left for our long trip which lasted for nearly two 
months, and of which I gave an account in a series of 
articles published in the "Sunday Shield and Banner," 
and continued for several weeks in the months of August 
and September, 1892. 

The weather was delightful throughout the entire 
journey, and we did not have a sick day, a rainy day, or 
a hot day, and everybody was kind, and we reached 
home in good health and spirits, and will always remem- 
ber our trip with pleasure. We had heard of the hos- 
pitality of the Pacific Slope, but it exceeded our ex- 
pectations. 

At Salt L,ake I had a letter of introduction to Governor 
Thomas, then governor of the territory for the second 
term, and although an entire stranger, he spent the 
larger part of two days in showing us the city, and then 
sent us out to the lake in charge of Judge Hoge and his 
brother. From Governor Thomas, I gained larger in- 
formation in regard to the social conditions of Utah than 
I had ever known before. 

At Carson City, in Nevada, we received similar atten- 
tions from Governor Calcord, who not only took us in 
his carriage and showed us the city, and took us to the 
penitentiary and the Stewart Indian School, but also 
invited us to dinner at his home. This was the style of 
hospitality we met everywhere upon the Pacific Slope. 

Leaving Carson City we went to I^ake Tahoe upon the 
invitation of a gentleman introduced to us by Governor 
Calcord, and who had a summer villa there. Arriving 
at the lake Mr. Bliss and his daughter took us on a tug 
steamer belonging to a lumber company, of which he was 
president, and made the circuit of that most wonderful 
of mountain lakes, a distance of Ov^er thirty miles, and 
21 



322 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

then landed us at the foot where we took the stage down 
the mountain fifteen miles to Truckee on the Central 
Pacific Road, where we stopped over night, and took the 
morning train down the Sierra Mountains by daylight to 
Sacramento. 

After spending a day at Sacramento we went south to 
Stockton, and spent two days at the insane asylum, and 
then went to the Yosemite Valley via Milton and the old 
Placer mining region. I have seen nearly all the wonders 
of America and Western Europe, but the Yosemite Val- 
ley in grandeur of scenery excels them all. 

From the Yosemite we went to the Mariposa reserva- 
tion of big trees, and thence by Raymond and Berenda 
to L,os Angeles and San Diego, and then leisurely along 
the entire coast via Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Port- 
land, Tacoma, to Seattle, in Washington. On our way, 
we visited all the principal prisons, reformatories and 
asylums, and everywhere we were welcomed with a 
hospitality I have rarely met elsewhere. 

Leaving Seattle, we went directly to the Yellow Stone 
Park, where we spent a week in viewing its wonders, 
and came home via Minneapolis and Chicago. It was a 
trip long to be remembered, and never to be forgotten. 

The National Prison Congress for 1892 was held in 
Baltimore, commencing December 3d, and closing De- 
cember 7th. Leaving Mansfield on the evening train of 
December 2d, I met, at Newark, General Hayes and his 
daughter Fannie, and we went through to Baltimore to- 
gether, arriving late in the afternoon of the 3d, but in 
time for the opening of the congress in the evening. 
During the hours we were together on the train, there 
was no one to interrupt our long talk, and as we were 
passing through a portion of Virginia in which the gen- 
eral had campaigned during the war, he was full of 
reminiscences which were very interesting and instructive. 



CONVENTIONS AND TRAVELS. 323 

We also discussed the prison question largely, and 
among other things the L,ombroso theory of criminal 
physiology and heredity, and the consequent irresponsi- 
bility for criminal acts. General Hayes, whilst not de- 
nying the existence of moral idiots, insisted that there 
were but few persons so depraved by nature that they 
could not be cured by proper training in youth. As il- 
lustrations, he gave his own experience of an adverse 
heredity, some of which I quoted in my eulogy upon 
Hayes at the Chicago congress, in June, 1893, as printed 
in the report of that year. 

The congress at Baltimore was largely attended, and 
the hospitality of the city was most generous, and Balti- 
more fully maintained its reputation for appreciative au- 
diences and attractive entertainments. 

My part in the congress was an extemporaneous ad- 
dress to the chaplains, and participation in the dis~ 
cussions. 

The Second Annual Conference of the Ohio State 
Charities and Corrections was held this year (1892) in 
Cleveland, in September, and was a great success, and its 
papers and discussions compare very favorably with the 
deliverances of the national conferences. A full report 
of this conference was published as an appendix to the 
report of the Board of State Charities. 

At this conference, Kx-President Hayes attended and 
made response to the address of welcome. He came 
upon my special request, and made an admirable talk 
upon our charitable and correctional institutions, in 
which as governor he had been deeply interested. His 
closing words were characteristic of the spirit of the man 
in philanthropic work: "If the calamities we would al- 
leviate or avert can never touch the hem, even of your 
garments, we have the consolation to know that we are 
trying to follow in the footsteps of the Divine Master 



324 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

who healed the sick, who gave eyes to the blind, and 
ears to the deaf, and whose whole life and teaching 
pointed out to us that the surest road to our own happi- 
ness and welfare, is to try to add to the happiness and 
welfare of others — our best beloved poet, Whittier, the 
tender glow of whose descending orb still lingers in the 
air of all America, has said in his beautiful and familiar 

hymn: 

"We bring no ghastly holocaust, 
We pile no graven stone; 
He serves Christ best, who loveth most 
His brothers as our own." 

On account of the World's Fair at Chicago, the Na- 
tional and International Conference of Charities and Cor- 
rection and the National Prison Congress were also held 
there. 

The National Conference of Charities and Correction 
for 1893 commenced on the 8th of June and closed on 
the nth, and was devoted to reports by its standing 
committees upon the progress made during the previous 
twenty years in the different departments within the pur- 
view of the association. As chairman of the committee 
upon prisons, I made the report on the evening of the 
8th. Failing to get any help from the other members of 
the committee, the report was wholly my own, and I 
alone am responsible for its conclusions. 

The international congress that followed convened on 
the 12th of June and continued until the 18th. It was 
not as largely attended as we had hoped, but still its 
papers and discussions were very able and form several 
volumes of great value. The contributions of foreign 
delegates were especially interesting and the contributors 
themselves were interesting people to meet. 

M. Kazarin, imperial representative from Russia, im- 
pressed me very favorably. After the congress, he vis- 



CONVENTIONS AND TRAVELS. 325 

ited Ohio prisons with his wife and secretary, and spent 
a day with me at Mansfield, and I found him a liberal 
and broad-minded penologist, and was glad to learn of 
the large progress made in Russia in dealing with crim- 
inal classes in recent years. I met him again in Paris in 
1895, where we spent two weeks together in attendance 
upon the International Prison Congress. 

The death of General Hayes, the president of the 
prison congress, which occurred January 17, 1893, i m_ 
posed upon me, as the vice-president, the duties of pre- 
siding officer, and also the duty of preparing the princi- 
pal eulogy at the Hayes memorial services, held in the 
evening of June 7th, which was published in the annual 
report. 

In view of the fact that the prison congress became a 
part of the International Conference of Charities and 
Correction, commencing on the 12th, only three sessions 
were held, and Saturday, the 10th, was taken up with 
an excursion to Joliet Prison. 

At the morning session of the 8th, I was elected presi- 
dent of the prison congress for the succeeding year, and, 
with reluctance, I accepted the position. After the 
death of General Hayes, it seemed to me that it would 
be best for the association to elect as his successor Ex- 
President Harrison. The fact that General Hayes had 
been President of the United States gave prestige to the 
association and secured larger audiences at our annual 
meetings and more influence with the public generally. 
Hoping that General Harrison would accept the position, 
I wrote him a letter, of which the following is a copy: 

Mansfield, Ohio, April 24, 1893. 
General Benj. Harrison, Indianapolis, Ind: 

Dear Sir — As you are doubtless aware, the National Prison As- 
sociation will hold its annual meeting in Chicago during the second 
week in June. Of this association, by the death of its president, 



326 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

General Hayes, I, as first vice-president, am ex-officio its presiding 
officer. At our June meeting, we will elect a successor to General 
Hayes, and to me it has seemed that the position goes to you more 
appropriately than to any other living man, and if you will indi- 
cate a willingness to accept it, I am very sure it will be unani- 
mously tendered. It is practically a life position. General Hayes 
held it for ten years, and we can hope that you would fill it for a 
longer period. It is a position in which you can render a great 
service to our association, to our country, and to humanity. If 
you will indicate a willingness to accept, I will take great pleasure, 
and will consider it a high honor, to recommend affirmative action 
by the association. 

Very sincerely, yours, R. BrinkerhoEE. 

To this letter I received the following reply : 

Indianapolis, Ind., April 26, 1893. 
General R. Brinkerhoee, Manseiei/d, Ohio: 

My Dear Sir — I have your letter of April 24th. I am much 
obliged to you for your kindly mention of my name as a successor 
of General Hayes as president of the National Prison Association. 
General Hayes was fortunately so situated that he could give much 
or all of his time to public and philanthropic duty. This is not 
my situation. After a period of rest, it will be necessary for me to 
engage somewhat in professional work. Indeed, I have already 
assumed some obligations in that way. These are quite likely to 
interfere with my presence at meetings, and much more with any 
active participation in the work. I think, therefore, it will be bet- 
ter that you should, if possible, secure some one whose time will 
be more completely at his own disposal. I know that the work of 
the present association is full of interest and of high importance, 
and but for reasons suggested, I would be willing to lend a help- 
ing hand. Very truly, yours, 

Benj. Harrison. 

As he did not make an absolute refusal I thought it 
possible, if his attendance could be secured at Chicago, 
he might feel differently. I so wrote to the secretary of 
the association, Rev. John S. Milligan, chaplain of the 
Alleghany penitentiary, and he concluded to go and see 
him. I also wrote another letter to General Harrison 



CONVENTIONS AND TRAVELS. 327 

and asked him to be present at our memorial services and 
participate. 

His reply was as follows: 

Indianapolis, Ind., May 18. 1893. 
General R. Brinkerhoee, Mansfield, Ohio: 

My Dear General — I have your letter of the 16th, and yesterday 
received a call from the secretary of your association presenting 
the same matter to my consideration. I notice a discrepancy in his 
statement and yours. Unless I misunderstand him — and I think I 
do not — he said that the time of the meeting was July 7. Your 
letter says June 7. I said to him at that time (July 7, ) I would be 
in the Bast taking my summer vacation, and could not make a trip 
to the West for the purpose of being present at your meeting. I 
had the highest appreciation of Mr. Hayes, and had always re- 
ceived the kindest treatment from him. 

Under other circumstances an occasion to express this apprecia- 
tion would not be neglected ; but I did not want to make any 
speeches this spring or summer, or to attend any meetings where I 
should be put to any wear or strain. I need a good rest, and have 
some work that I must do in my study that will require all the 
strength and time that I can get during the summer. My plan 
was to go East for the summer, about the middle of June. It is 
possible that I may be in Chicago for a few days prior to that time. 

The Indiana people have wanted me to be present at the dedica- 
tion of the Indiana building, which I suppose will not occur be- 
fore the 10th, and perhaps at a later day; and I have said that I 
might go up if the time suited. I could not, however, make an 
address on such an occasion, before such an audience, without 
some adequate preparation; and I really do not feel that I have 
now the time or the strength to undertake it. 

Very truly yours, Benj. Harrison. 

General Harrison misunderstood Secretary Milligan, 
and June the seventh was the correct date, but this fact 
was immaterial, as he evidently had no inclination 
towards the prison congress or its work. I do not blame 
him for that, as the prison question is not an attractive 
one to the average American; but I did think he ought 
to have made an effort, even at a sacrifice of his com- 



328 RECOEEECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

fort, to show proper appreciation of the life and services 
of General Hayes. The declination of General Harrison 
made me president of the national association, but I 
had serious doubts whether it was wise action for the 
association, or advantageous to me. To put a small peg 
in a large hole may result in the disappearance of the 
peg, but as to that we shall see what we shall see. Suf- 
fice it to say, I appreciated fully the confidence of my 
associates in the work of prison reform, and hope the 
cause has not suffered for the want of larger leadership. 
No one in the congress felt the loss of General Hayes 
more than I did, for we had been close friends for more 
than thirty years. When governor in 1867 he had been 
instrumental in re-establishing the Board of State Chari- 
ties, and he always took a special interest in its work, 
and was always ready to lend a helping hand. 

So highly did he appreciate the usefulness of the board 
and its opportunities for philanthropic work, that, after 
he became an ex-president of the United States, he de- 
clared that there was but one office he would be willing 
to accept, and that would be a membership on the Board 
of State Charities. 

As I have already stated, the Ohio Archaeological and 
Historical Society was organized at Mansfield in 1875, 
and I was its first president. After that, until February, 
1893, I was connected with it officially, either as trustee 
or vice-president, and then upon the death of General 
Hayes, who had been elected president in 1892, I was 
chosen to succeed him, and have since been selected every 
year. 

As I have heretofore stated, our society made an ex- 
hibit of Ohio archaeology at the Centennial Exposition in 
Philadelphia in 1876, and this we enlarged and repeated 
at the Chicago Exposition. 



EVENTS of 1893 AND l8 94- 3 2 9 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Events of 1893 AND 1894. 

The Chicago Expositiou — Dedication of the Ohio Monument — Ori- 
gin of monument — Dedication address — State Conference at 
Dayton — Legislation of 1894 — Interchange of commodities — 
Sons of the Revolution — Address at banquet — Fourth of July- 
address. 

It was my good fortune to spend a month in Chicago 
during the World's Columbian Exposition. I was pres- 
ent at the grand opening, in October, 1892, at the Manu- 
factures Building in Jackson Park (the largest building 
under one roof ever erected), and again in the evening 
at the opening of the World's Congress Auxiliary at the 
Auditorium, and heard the magnificent oration of Arch- 
bishop Ireland, which was the only one (and I heard them 
all) that seemed to me to be fully up to the requirements 
of the occasion. In the following year, in the month of 
June, I also attended several of the conferences of the 
World's Auxiliary, and made the acquaintance of many 
distinguished people from all parts of the world. 

All of these various conferences were held in the Chi- 
cago Art Building, on the lake front, and in order to be 
present at sessions both day and night I remained down 
town at the Great Northern Hotel until the close of the 
prison congress, and then secured quarters near the main 
entrance of the exposition grounds, and in company with 
my daughter and granddaughter spent three weeks in a 
systematic and careful inspection of the exposition, pre- 
paring our itinerary at night and putting in the entire 
day in carrying it out, with an hour for lunch and rest at 



330 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the Ohio building. The weather was perfect, and the 
great crowds did not begin to come until after we left for 
home, so that we were able to visit every exhibit, and 
some of them several times, without worry or weariness. 
It certainly was a great exposition, and I doubt if it will 
be equaled in a century to come. 

The world's auxiliary congresses, however, impressed 
me as more wonderful than the exhibits at Jackson Park. 
As God is greater than the universe He has made, so 
man is greater than the work of his hands. At Jackson 
Park, we had the creations of men's hands, but at the 
various congresses at the art palace we had the world's 
thinkers, and the interchange of thoughts there obtained 
cannot be otherwise than vastly influential in every de- 
partment of human endeavor. The Columbian Exposi- 
tion was too large for intelligent examination and study, 
and the aim of future expositions, I think, should be to se- 
cure a reduction of quantity and an increase of quality. 

The 14th of September was "Ohio Day" at the fair, 
and as I was on the program as one of the speakers, I left 
for Chicago on the evening of the nth and remained until 
the evening of the 15th. The 12th and 13th, I put in al- 
most entirely at the Parliament of Religions, which was 
opened on the nth, and as I was a member of one of the 
advisory committees of the world's auxiliary, I was an ex- 
omcio member, and had special opportunity for meeting 
foreign delegates, and hearing them. I attended the re- 
ception Tuesday evening, and attended the sessions for 
two days and nights, and afterwards kept the run of the 
proceedings through the seventeen days of the congress, 
as published in the newspapers. It was a wonderful 
congress, and works a new era in the world's history. 

On my return home, I was invited, and accepted the 
invitation, to present impressions of the congress to the 
people of the Congregational Church, at the regular Sun- 



KVKNTS OF 1893 AND 1 894. 331 

day evening service, and also by the Mansfield I^yceum 
at its autumn opening. "Ohio Day," on the 14th of 
September, was a great success, although it was the hot- 
est day of the season, and there were one hundred and 
fifty two heat prostrations. After the parade, the speak- 
ing exercises were in front of the Ohio building. Gov- 
ernor McKinley was first on the program, and I was sec- 
ond, and then came Judge Hunt, of Cincinnati, and 
Judge Thomas, of Chicago. My duty was to dedicate the 
Ohio Monument, the origin of which was credited to me. 
The genesis of this monument, in brief, was as fol- 
lows: 

In February, 1891, at a banquet in Columbus, of the 
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, I was put 
upon the program to respond to the toast: "Ohio at the 
Columbian Exposition." I had no time for preparation, 
but as I was last on the list of speakers I did not worry 
myself, as the chances were I would not be reached, and 
in any event, the hour would be so late that I could get 
off with very few words. However, as the speaking 
traveled my way, I began to think how best to present 
Ohio at the fair, and the more I thought about it the 
more difficult it seemed to show any special pre-eminence 
for our state. 

Ohio, as a whole, could not be excelled, but when I 
tried to enter into particulars it was not easy to show 
superiority, for some other state could do as well or bet- 
ter, and I began to get nervous. All at once, however, 
it flashed into my mind that it was not bigness or ma- 
terial resources that gave renown to a nation as much as 
the character of its men and women, and I remembered 
Greece and Palistine, and my speech was ready, for in 
men of international renown Ohio was peerless among 
the states. At eleven o'clock, when my turn came, I 
amplified my idea, and wound up with the suggestion 



33 2 RFCOI^FCTIONS OF UFBTIMF. 

that Ohio should be represented at the fair by a group 
of statuary, in the center of which should be a noble ma- 
tron to represent Ohio, and around her should be such 
children as Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Chase, Stanton, 
and Garfield; and then upon the pedestal should be en- 
graved the proud utterance of Cornelia, the "Mother of 
the Gracchi. ' ' ' 'These are my Jewels. ' ' A resolution was 
unanimously adopted recommending the legislature to 
adopt the suggestion, and appropriate the funds necessary 
to it put in granite and bronze. 

I^ater on, in December, I was invited by the trustees of 
the reformatory to go with them to Canton to meet Gov- 
ernor-elect McKinley, and with us was the architect of 
the reformatory, Captain I^evi T. Scofield, who was also 
the creator of the soldiers' monument at Cleveland, Ohio. 
At dinner in Canton I was next to Captain Scofield, and 
it occurred to me to tell him about my proposed monu- 
ment, and ask him what he thought of it. It struck him 
favorably, and subsequently he wrote me he had made 
drawings for it, and these he brought with him later, at 
a meeting of the board in Columbus. All seemed pleased, 
and I proposed to Scofield that we go over to the capitol 
and show it to the adjutant-general. General Pocock 
took to it with enthusiasm, and asked me to write him a 
letter explaining fully the proposed monument, which I 
did on my return home. The result was, he presented 
the matter to the state commission, and through them to 
the legislature, and the required appropriation of $25,000 
was made, and in due time the monument was completed 
and I was called upon to dedicate it. 

As to the merits or demerits of the monument as a 
work of art, I do not care to consider here. Suffice it to 
say it served its purpose, and gave to Ohio a pre-eminence 
which no one disputed, which was its sole purpose so far 
as I was concerned. After the fair was over the monu- 




"THESE ARE MY JEWELS. " 



KVKNTS OF 1893 AND 1 894. 333 

ment was removed to Columbus, where General Hayes was 
added to the group. 

The Ohio monument, apparently, had its origin in the 
inspirations of an after-dinner speech, and to a large ex- 
tent that is a fact; and yet I am not sure but the inspira- 
tion, after all, had its origin in my decorations at Wash- 
ington City in 1865, at the jollification in the celebration 
of Lee's surrender, which I have already described. 
' 'Ohio's Quota" contained all the figures on the monu- 
ment except Chase and Garfield. 

ADDRESS OF GENERAL R. BRINKERHOFF 

At the Dedication of the Ohio Monument, Jackson Park, Chicago. 
September 14., 1893. 

We, the citizens of Ohio, have met to-day in this pantheon of 
the nations to remember and honor our own great state. Whilst 
we are Americans, and proud of our nationality, we are also proud 
to believe that in the galaxy of states there is no star brighter 
than Ohio. Nowhere upon the rounded globe is there another 
block of land of the size of Ohio which equals it in all the essen- 
tials required for the abode of civilized men. In fertility of soil, 
in diversity of products, in mines of coal and iron, in quarries of 
stone, in healthfulness of climate, in beauty of landscape, in ac- 
cessibility of location by water and by land, she is absolutely 
peerless. 

Leaving out the great cities of New York, Philadelphia and 
Chicago, which are alien rather than native, and are the creations 
of commerce and not the children of a state, and Ohio is easily 
the greatest state in the union in population and wealth, and al- 
ways will be. 

Whilst we remember all this, and are proud to remember it, 
we also remember and are glad to remember that the highest 
glory of a state or nation is not in bigness, but in mind, as mani- 
fested and represented by its men and women. 

Two thousand years ago that contracted peninsula in the Aegean 
Sea was but a speck in size compared with the surrounding coun- 
tries, and yet, to-day, in architecture and in art, in oratory and 
in song, in literature and in philosophy, and in all that make a 



334 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

nation truly great, the republics of Greece are the models of the 
world. 

Two thousand years ago, and for a thousand years before, Pal- 
estine was but a handbreadth on the continent of Asia, between 
the Jordan and the sea; and yet in all the nations of the world's 
annals the Hebrew is the most memorable and the most potential. 

So, in a concourse of nations, the highest claim for recogni- 
tion must be mind and not matter — men and not things. So in 
this concourse of nations in which we are now gathered, Ohio is 
not ashamed to present her achievements in comparison with the 
proudest, both in matter and in mind; for around us to-day, in 
every department of human endeavor, the image and the super- 
scription of Ohio is pre-eminent. 

' 'To-day, however, in the dedication of this monumental group, 
we call attention to the fact that in men of international renown, 
Ohio is absolutely peerless among the states and nations of this 
western hemisphere. Like the constellation of Orion in the 
heavens, we have six stars of resplendent magnitude, and in the 
inventory of our treasures, 'these are our jewels.' 

1 'Who they are and what they were is known to all mankind, and 
therefor for the purposes of this exposition, a biographical descrip- 
tion is not necessary, but for the purposes of this gathering of Ohio 
people, it seems proper for those who knew them, not only to bear 
testimony to their pre-eminence as soldiers and statesmen, but also 
to give personal recollections of acquaintance with them. I knew 
them all, and some of them intimately. Grant, Sherman and 
Sheridan are the only soldiers who ever attained the full rank of 
general, in the United States, since the organization of our govern- 
ment. In the splendor of their achievements, they have never 
been equaled upon this continent, and have never been surpassed 
by the soldiers of any other continent. They were not only great 
soldiers, but they were also patriotic citizens, and never thought a 
thought or dreamed a dream, that was disloyal to liberty or the in- 
stitutions of their native land. 

"So with Chase, Stanton and Garfield; they were not only states- 
men of the highest rank, but they were also noble-minded gentle- 
men in all the relations of life. Mr. Chase, mentally, morally and 
physically, was the noblest man, I think, I have ever known. He 
was the friend of my youth, and the friend of my manhood, and I 
knew him better than any other public man of high position. He 
was my political god-father, and I followed his banner until he 
died. As an antislavery leader before the war, as a financial or- 



EVENTS OF 1893 AND 1 894. 335 

ganizer during the war, he had no equal. As a statesman, as a 
patriot and as a Christian gentleman, I do not know of anyone 
since Washington, more worthy of honor by the nation or more 
worthy of imitation by coming generations. 

"Edwin M. Stanton, next to Lincoln, in my judgment, rendered 
more important service in subduing the Rebellion than any other 
man. Never in the history of nations, has there been a war secre- 
tary of larger ability, or greater devotion to the cause he repre- 
sented. He was the right hand of the President in the great 
struggle, and a century hence, when history can be written in truer 
proportions than is possible now, the name of Stanton in the great 
rebellion will be next to Lincoln. No one, perhaps, in the great 
struggle was more misunderstood than Mr. Stanton. To the mul- 
titude he seemed harsh, and to many cruel, and even now to the 
majority of Americans, I apprehend such ideas are more or less 
dominant, but to those who were near enough to him to know him 
intimately, and I was one of them, there was no man more kind, 
or considerate, or appreciative. To drones, or laggards, or shirks, 
he was merciless, but to every one, high or low, who was efficient, 
and sought to do his duty, he was always a friend. Of those upon 
our monument, there is no one, perhaps, of wider international re- 
nown than President Garfield. The pathos of his death, as much as 
the achievements of his life, has made him immortal. No man 
in this generation was endowed by nature with larger gifts, and no 
one, probably, ever came to the office of president better equipped 
for the discharge of its duties and, therefore, the calamity of his 
taking off has filled the world with sorrow. I was associated with 
him in many ways before the war, during the war, and after the 
war, and a more attractive man I have never known. I doubt if 
any man in public or in private life had more friends or fewer 
enemies than James A. Garfield. 

"In conclusion, let me say that we as citizens of Ohio have 
reason to thank God and rejoice that we have a heritage so glorious 
as the memories of the men we celebrate to-day, The emulation 
of examples like these make nations great, and keeps them so. 
The soil out of which such men have grown is good to be born on, 
good to die for, and good to be buried in." 

The State Conference of Charities and Correction for 
1893 was held at Dayton, November 20th to 23d, inclu- 
sive, with 133 delegates, representing very fully the 



336 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

charitable and correctional institutions of the state. 
The opening meeting, on the evening of the 20th, was 
especially noteworthy in the very large attendance of the 
citizens of Dayton. The address of welcome was made 
with the mayor of the city, and in the absence of the gov- 
ernor of the state, who was unexpectedly detained, I 
was called upon to respond, and the exercises then closed 
by the annual address of the president, H. C. Filler, of 
Columbus. During the next three days, the various 
phases of philanthropic work were very fully considered, 
and some of the papers were of exceptional value, a full 
report of which was published as an appendix to the re- 
port of the Board of State Charities. 

During the year, by order of the governor, two in- 
vestigations running for several days were made by com- 
mittees of our board, of which I was chairman; the first of 
the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home and the other of 
the Cleveland Hospital for the Insane. Serious charges 
were made against the superintendents, and many wit- 
nesses were examined with the result that each was ex- 
onerated, and there was not a shadow of doubt in the 
minds of those who heard the testimony that the verdict 
was correct. Kven the prosecuting witness who had 
filed the charge against the Cleveland Hospital admitted 
that he had been misinformed. 

The legislature of 1894, n ^ e a ^ new legislatures, at- 
tempted to do a good many foolish things in regard to our 
public institutions, but we were able to prevent the worst of 
the proposed measures, and shaped others so as to be 
beneficial. The worst bill proposed was one that passed 
the senate almost unanimously, and required the inmates 
of our insane asylums and other benevolent institutions 
to pay for their maintenance or be classified as paupers. 
This was known as the Rorick bill. The Constitution of 
the State, Article VII, section 1, provides that institu- 



EVENTS OF 1893 AND 1894. 337 

tions for the benefit of the insane, blind, and deaf and 
dumb should be fostered and supported by the state, and 
this provision had always been construed to mean free 
support, and the change proposed by the senate bill 
would reverse our entire system. I immediately wrote 
to our clerk at Columbus to arrange for a hearing before 
the committee of the house to which the bill was re- 
ferred, and had him call a meeting of our board, which 
he did. On reaching Columbus, we met the committee, 
and presented fully our reasons for opposing the bill. 
Our opposition to this bill, however, made us enemies in 
the senate, which was shown in Senator Gears' bill to 
abolish our board. This bill did good rather than evil, 
for it drew public attention to our position, and opposition 
always helps a good cause. 

Out of controversy with the senate, however, we got 
a valuable bill passed to provide for interchange of pro- 
ducts among our public institutions. The senate finance 
committee intimated that we had better make explana- 
tion to them as to our opposition to the Rorick bill, 
which we were glad to do, and in doing so we indicated 
a better way to make money out of institutions than 
by taxing their inmates. The suggestion took root, and 
a few days afterwards, our clerk, Mr. Byers, wrote me 
that Senator Rorick had suggested that if we would 
propose a bill to carry out our suggestion, he would in- 
troduce it. Accordingly I went to Columbus, and after 
consultation with senators and the governor, I prepared 
a bill, and then arranged to have it presented to Mr. 
Brown, who represented the labor union element, and 
the bill passed the senate with but little opposition. The 
bill failed to reach a vote in the house, but two years 
later, in 1896, Senator Brown again introduced the bill, 
and it passed both houses, and is now a law. 

The organization known as the Ohio Sons of the 



338 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

American Revolution, of which I was a charter mem- 
ber, celebrated the 19th of April, 1894, the anniversary 
of the battle of I^exington, with a banquet at the Neil 
House in Columbus. A dozen toasts and responses were 
on the program, and as I was last there was a hopeful 
chance to be left out, but I was not so fortunate, and the 
following is the result : 

Patriotism — Sons of the Revolution — In ale Wars of the 
Republic 

It was my good fortune, a year ago, to be present at the opening 
exercises of the World's Auxiliary, and to hear that peerless oration 
of Archbishop Ireland, and I remember the opening sentence in 
which he said, "the greatest thing in the world is mind." Truly 
the greatest thing in the world is mind, but in addition I would 
say that the greatest thing in the world in its influence upon mind 
is sentiment; and the greatest sentiment in the world in its in- 
fluence upon the life of nations is patriotism. 

Patriotism is that sentiment which we know as love of country, 
and it is the creation, largely, of past achievements and glorious 
memories. With our revolutionary fathers patriotism meant a love 
of liberty, which was their heritage as Englishman, and for which 
their fathers had fought and suffered, and which again was 
jeopardized by a tyrannical king. It was a patriotism of the 
divinest kind, and under its inspiration they fought through seven 
long years, and finally won by founding a new nation. The 
splendor of their achievements was the noblest heritage ever 
given to a nation, and under its influence we are what we are 
to-day. 

In the annals of history we have no record cf a nobler body of 
men than the fathers of the American Revolution, and it could not 
be otherwise than that they should transmit something of these 
qualities to their descendants, and therefore in all wars of the re- 
public the Sons of the Revolution have been first at the front. In 
our brief wars with France and with Algeria, it was Commodore 
Truxton and Commodore Decatur that gave us victory, and they 
were both Sons of the Revolution. So in the war of 181 2 it was 
fought out under the direction of Sons of the Revolution. Jackson 
in command of the army in the south, Harrison of the west, Van 



KvfnTS of 1893 1894. 339 

Rensselaer of the center, and Wade Hampton of the north, were 
all Sons of the Revolution, and so also were three-fonrths of the 
rank and file of all these armies. On the sea, where our sailors 
covered themselves all over with glory, they were directed by the 
Sons of the Revolution, like Decatur, and Hull, and Porter, and 
Bainbridge, and Commodore Perry. In the war of 1812 it was a 
matter of course that the Sons of the Revolution should be at the 
front, and your traditions, like mine, are doubtless all to that 
effect. 

My grandfather after whom I was named was one of six brothers 
who carried muskets in the Revolution, and five of them survived, 
and their families were all represented in the war of 18 12, and 
some of them several times over. My father was a lieutenant and 
quartermaster, and my uncle was a colonel in the line under Scott 
in Canada. 

As in the war of 1812, so in the Mexican War, the leading spirits 
were Sons of the Revolution, and there were thousands of them 
under the command of Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor, both of 
whom were Sons of the Revolution. So in the Civil War the Sons 
of the Revolution were represented out of all proportion to their 
numbers, and at the head of our armies were Grant and Sherman, 
both Sons of the Revolution, and both from Ohio. Many others 
from Ohio could be added, as for example Generals Hayes, Rose- 
crans, Bwing and Force. This condition of affairs is not strange, 
for it is the law of nature that sons will be as their fathers. 

It is wise, therefore, in a nation, to foster patriotism by preserv- 
ing the memory of the noble deeds for the imitation and inspiration 
of the coming generations. Money expended in monuments and 
statuary and memorial days is not wasted, but wisely invested. 

To me, for a long time, it has seemed that the Fourth of July 
properly belongs to the Sons of the Revolution, and I believe that 
we ought to take possession of it, and make it the greatest object 
lesson of the nation in patriotism. As celebrated in later years it 
teaches our children evil rather than good. It is the one holiday, 
and the only one, in which all Americans, of every state in the 
Union, South as well as North, can unite in a common jubilee of 
patriotism. 

Let us make it what the Passover has been to the Jews for three 
thousand years, a day in which to teach our children lessons of the 
Passover of our fathers from colonial dependence to American in- 
dependence. 



340 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

No greater theme can command the attention of the American 
people, for, as stated by Archbishop Ireland, "America born into 
the family of nations in these later times, is the highest billow in 
humanity's evolution, the crowning effort of the ages in the ag- 
grandizement of man." 

In compliance with my suggestion, an organization 
was effected in Mansfield, and the Fourth of July was 
duly celebrated — first by the school children in the Mem- 
orial Hall, in the morning, and then by a picnic in the 
Sherman-Hineman Park, where a number of patriotic 
addresses were made. It fell to my lot to make the in- 
troductory speech at the Memorial Hall, which was as 
follows: 

"One hundred and eighteen years ago to-day, July 4, 1776, there 
were assembled in Philadelphia, in what is now known as Inde- 
pendence Hall,- the representatives of thirteen colonies. For 
nearly a month the question of a formal separation from the 
mother country had been considered. A committee had been ap- 
pointed to draft a Declaration of Independence, and it was gener- 
ally understood that a vote would be reached that day. 

The people thronged the streets and anxiously awaited the re- 
sult. In order that immediate information could be given to the 
waiting people, a bell-man was stationed in the belfry of the hall, 
and a boy in the hall itself, with instructions to notify the bell- 
man as soon as action was taken upon the declaration. Long hours 
the grizzled old bell-man waited in vain in his lonely tower. 

The clocks in the church towers clanged high noon, and no news 
came to the bell-man. 'They'll never do it; they'll never do it!' 
growled the bell-man, but the debate went on. It was a serious 
business those men below had in hand. To vote aye meant high 
treason under British law, and the penalty was death. Time went 
slow with the man in the tower, but it went fast with those below. 
'They'll never do it; they'll never do it!' growled the bell-man, as 
time crept on and the clock struck one. 

Another hour crept on until nearly two o'clock, when out of the 
door, like a race-horse on the home stretch, came the waiting boy, 
and, as he reached the middle of the street, he shouted upward to 
the man in the tower, 'Ring! ring!! ring!!!' and the great bell 



EVENTS OF 1893 AND 1 894. 34 1 

swung with a thunderous roar, and the proclamation of American 
Independence went out into the ambient air and upon the wings of 
the wind, and America was free. 

That night John Adams wrote to his wife: 'This will be the 
most memorable epoch in the history of America; celebrated by 
descending generations as the great anniversary festival; commem- 
orated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to 
God Almighty; solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, 
bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to 
the other, from this time forward, forever. ' John Adams was right. 
It was the greatest epoch in American history. Aye, more, it was 
the greatest political event in the world's history, and we are here 
to-day to keep it in mind, and the principles it represents. 

Upon this platform are gathered some of the lineal descendants 
of the soldiers of the Revolution, and they believe that the Fourth 
of July should be, not only a day of rejoicing, but a day of in- 
struction and consecration for the rising generation, and therefore 
they have invited the children of the public schools, as well as 
those who are older, to participate. As the white-haired veteran 
in the belfry and the small boy in the street had a part in the orig- 
inal Declaration of Independence, so old and young alike, as long 
as time lasts, and the nation lives, should unite in celebrating its 
glories and perpetuating its lessons. ' ' 



342 RECOU,£CTlONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Evolution and Revolution. 

As an evolutionist — The origin of life — The law of biogenesis — Con- 
ference of 1894 — Ohio State Conference at Kenton — Prohibi- 
tion vagaries. 

No biographer can interpret properly the records of a 
human life unless he knows something of the philosophic 
convictions of his subject. They may be conscious or 
unconscious, but nevertheless they exist in every human 
life, and are a potent factor for good or evil. It seems 
essential, therefore, for me to say that I am an evolution- 
ist of the Herbert Spencer type, and have been so from 
the earliest announcement of that theory, and with me it 
has been a power for good, and not for evil. Instead 
of weakening my faith in God and the future, it has 
strengthened it in many ways, and has been a guiding 
light in many other directions. 

Evolution in the earlier years of its discussion, doubt- 
less, carried some people into materialism, but as the 
years went by such thinkers as ~L,e Conte and Gray in 
America, and Drummond, Matheson and Sir William 
Hamilton in Great Britain, went deeper, and materialism 
is no longer in the ascendent. As an indication of the 
shaping of my own beliefs, I give the following essay 
upon the origin of life, prepared by me for the Mansfield 
Lyceum and presented in May, 1886: 

Law of Biogenesis in Its Application to Man. 
The term biogenesis is a word of very recent origin. I doubt if 
you will find it in any of your dictionaries, unless it is a very late 



EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION. 343 

edition. We find biology, which means the science of life, and the 
study of it, is as old as humanity. 

Biogenesis is a recent addition to this science, and is used to indi- 
cate the law which governs the origin of life. Bios life, genesis 
the origin. The most mysterious thing in the visible universe is 
life. 

Matter, in a measure, we can understand. Through our knowl- 
edge of the action of the laws of gravitation, and the chemical laws, 
we can determine how things have come about, and how they will 
perform under given conditions. But life puzzles us, for here comes 
a something which sets the material laws at defiance. The ele- 
ments of a tree, or an animal, do not differ from the material 
elements around them, and yet within them is that mysterious 
something called life. Whence cometh it, whither goeth it ? 

Every people of every age have had some idea of the origin of 
life, but it is only in the last two centuries that there has been any 
intelligent effort to get at it scientifically, and these efforts very 
soon centered upon two theories: 

I. Life was a product of matter, aud came about by a chemical 
combination of its particles, and that it was liable at any time to 
be generated in its lowest forms by favorable circumstances. 

II. That life was not a product of matter, but came from some 
source outside of matter by special creation. 

For a time, the spontaneous generation advocates seemed to 
have the upper hand. In fact, Bastiat, by a series of experiments, 
seemed to prove it by the generation of animalculae from distilled 
water. For a time, the majority of scientists were disposed to 
concede the point and to agree that life was the product of matter. 
A few questioned the sufficiency of Bastiat 's experiments and pro- 
ceeded to institute a more crucial test by water distilled from 
superheated steam, and the result was that spontaneous generation 
ceased and ceased forever. 

Steadily, step by step, science settled conclusively that spon- 
taneous generation was a myth and that there was no such thing; 
and at last all men of science are substantially unanimous in the 
conviction that there can be no life except it come from pre-exist- 
ing life, and this fact is now known as the law of "biogenesis." 
This was first authoritatively announced by Professor Huxley to 
the British Association of Science in 1870. The next year (1871), 
Sir William Thompson, as president of the association, stated in 
his address: "A very ancient way of thinking, to which many 
naturalists still hold fast, admits that by means of certain meteoro- 



344 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

logical conditions different from the present, inanimate matter 
may have crystallized or fermented in such a manner as to produce 
living germs, or organic cells, or protoplasms. But science affords 
us a number of inductive proofs against this hypothesis of spon- 
taneous generation, as you have already heard from my predeces- 
sor in this chair. A minute examination has not, up to this time, 
discovered any power capable of originating life but life itself. 
Inanimate matter cannot become living except under the influence 
of matter already living. This is a fact of science which seems to 
me as well ascertained as the law of gravitation, and I am ready to 
accept as an article of faith in science, for all time and in all space, 
that life is produced by life and only by life. ' ' Professor Huxley 
categorically announces that the doctrine of biogenesis, or life 
from life, is victorious along the whole line at the present day. 
Professor Tyndall, even whilst confessing that he wishes the evi- 
dence were the other way, is compelled to say: "I affirm that no 
shred of trustworthy experimental testimony exists to prove that 
life in our day has ever appeared independent of antecedent life." 
In this conviction the scientific world has now become substan- 
tially unanimous, and the law of biogenesis is now received as the 
governing law of life with the same certainty that the law of 
gravitation is received as the governing law of matter. 

The result of the establishment of this law is revolutionary in 
many ways, and destroys at a blow a thousand theories and upsets 
a great many philosophies, but to-night we only have time to con- 
sider very briefly the effect of this law of biogenesis upon man, as 
a link in the chain of being upon the earth and upon his destiny 
in the future. 

Clearly, if this law be true, then man is not a special creation, 
but a product of some form of life which preceded him, and we 
must travel back for our origin to very humble beginnings. Life 
from life is the law; and as we go backward in time the book of 
nature, written in the rocks, shows with unerring certainty a steady 
degradation from higher forms to lower forms; from the complex 
to the simple; from the heterogeneous to the homogeneous; until 
at last we find ourselves in company with the lowest known form 
of life, the formless protoplasm. Apparently this is a tremendous 
blow to many cherished beliefs. Before admitting this, however, 
it behooves us to look the matter squarely in the face and see if 
this conclusion necessarily follows. In the first place, then, it fol- 
lows as a logical necessity that man is an evolution from the lower 
forms of life. If the law of biogenesis is true, then it follows as 



EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION. 345 

the night the day that the commonly-received idea that man ap- 
peared as a special creation, full-formed from the dust of the 
ground in the Garden of Eden, must be abandoned. 

Under the law of biogenesis, Adam may have been the culmina- 
tion of man upon the earth; but he certainly could not have been 
the beginning. Another conclusion necessarily follows, viz: Under 
the law of biogenesis, life, in the nature of things, must have been 
eternal. Life from life, as we have already seen, going back to the 
last attainable link, brings us to the formless protoplasm. Of 
course, under this law there must be other links beyond; and as 
life can only come from life, there cannot, in the necessity of 
things, be any end to the chain, and yet we know that there was a 
time upon this earth when there was no life. 

When the earth was simply a globe of superheated vapor, or 
later on when it was a sea of melted metals, it is certain that life in 
any of the forms known upon the earth could not have existed. 
Whence, then, came life? To this question there are as yet, 
from the votaries of science, but very few definite answers at- 
tempted. 

Professor Tyndall and others have suggested that possibly there 
may have been a time when the law did not exist. That is true, 
and so it may be that there has been a time when the law of 
gravitation did not exist; but, so far as we know, these laws have 
never changed, and until an exception is actually proven we are 
bound to accept them as they are. 

Sir, William Thompson recognizes this fact, but suggests that 
possibly a germ of life may have been introduced by meteors from 
the interstellar spaces, or from fragments of other planets. This, 
even if it were possible, only removes the difficulty a single step 
backward, and we inquire, how did life get upon other planets? 

Herbert Spencer, the profoundest thinker of all the philoso- 
phers of science, concludes that under the laws of matter as we 
know them in the visible universe, there is no solution to the 
problem, and therefore the beginning of life must be outside of the 
visible universe. He conceives, therefore, that what we see is 
simply the product of something we do not see. The something 
he calls Force. What it is, or where it is, he does not know, and 
cannot know. But that it exists, and that from it all things come 
and by it all things are sustained, is a certainty. The visible uni- 
verse, he thinks, is simply the manifestation of the invisible — a 
shadow, as it were, of an invisible substance. From this invisible 
force comes life. 



346 RECOU.KCTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Amid the gropings of science, how refreshing it is to turn to 
the first chapter of the oldest historical record upon the earth and 
read in the first verse: "In the beginning God created the heav- 
ens and the earth." The force of science finds a name: "God cre- 
ated." So at last science and revelation are at one in agreeing 
that the visible universe is not an accident or chance, but that 
intelligence formed and rules it. 

God is the life giver, and in him all the mysterious links of life 
have their beginning. We are the children of the Infinite and not 
the creatures of blind chance. God is eternal. 

' 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 
and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with 
God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not 
anything made that was made; in Him was life." And thus the 
law of biogenesis is vindicated and established. 

God is the life giver. God is the central force of the universe. 
God is eternal. In Him all the requirements of science and all 
the statements of revelation are fully met, and all the phenomena 
of matter and mind are intelligible. Under the law of biogenesis, 
we see as a logical necessity that atheism disappears from all scien- 
tific philosophy, and therefore we see the class of scientists who 
have heretofore been atheists taking refuge in agnosticism. Like 
Spencer, they are compelled to admit the existence of an omni- 
present, omnipotent and intelligent force in the universe, but they 
claim that this force must ever remain unknown and unknowable. 
To the Christian theist, however, the law of biogenesis is a friend 
and not an enemy. It is true, it upsets many venerable tenets in 
the old theologies, but upon the whole the Christian faith, in all 
its essentials, has been strengthened a thousand fold, and the 
Scriptures, properly interpreted, instead of being at war with 
science, are the axioms of science, and the result must be that the 
science of the future will be based upon Scripture as its truest in- 
terpreter, as it was the first to announce its fundamental laws. 
The admonition of St. Paul to avoid ' 'profane and vain babblings, 
and opposition of science, falsely so called," will no longer be 
necessary, for science and Christianity will be one and each will 
complement the other. Under the law of biogenesis there are two 
worlds, one physical and the other spiritual, and life from life is 
the law of both, and both in the chain of being have their origin 
in the central life of God, and each in its order in the fullness of 
time. In the light of science as it is in revelation, time is but a 
name, and a "thousand years are as one day, and one day is as a 



EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION. 347 

thousand years." Under this interpretation, the days of Genesis 
are expanded, without violence, into aeons of time, and the vision of 
Moses becomes scientific as well as historical. Through the ages, 
the germ of life imparted to the earth at the beginning from the cen- 
tral life of all is developed, or, as Spencer puts it, is "differentiated 
from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous," until at last, during 
the sixth day, after man (perhaps as an animal for thousands of 
years with the rude stone implements of the pre-glacial period) 
had attained a development which marked the climax of life upon 
the earth. God said: "Let us make man in our own image, after 
our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 
and over the fowls of the air, and over every creeping thing that 
creepeth upon the earth, and man became a living soul." As a 
man, in God's image, he was born upright and sinless, it is true, 
because until now the power to know good and evil, and the power 
of choice, had not been given. He chose the evil and his career 
of development began on the new plane of a higher life. And so 
again, in the fullness of time, a still higher life was imparted. 
"Marvel not that I said unto unto you, ye must be born again." 
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound 
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goetli. 
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Who hath the Son hath 
life; who hath not the Son hath not life." Here again the law of 
biogenesis is announced with profound impressiveness. Life from 
life; and in the spiritual world, as in the natural world, there is no 
life except from antecedent life. 

So, in a thousand ways, the law of biogenesis glows in the 
Scriptures w T ith increasing luster, and so in the theologies of the 
future old things must pass away and many things will become en- 
tirely new. 

From all these considerations, it is evident that the law of bio- 
genesis is as well established as any other physical law, and it 
therefore follows, with all the certainty and power of a proposi- 
tion in Euclid, that we are in the power and under the dominion 
of an intelligent, changeless, ever present force, and the order of 
nature, as we see it, is simply its visible manifestation or object 
lesson, by which we learn .something of the character and mean- 
ing of the invisible world which lies beyond. It is fair to presume, 
therefore, that the laws of the moral and spiritual world are as 
changeless as those of the physical world, and it behooves us, 
therefore, to watch very closely their demands upon us. If we 
ride with the train, we are in harmony with the universe, but if we 



348 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

stand in front of it we shall be ground to powder. Obedience is 
life. Disobedience is death. 

The National Conference of Charities and Correction 
for 1894 was ne ld in Nashville, Tennessee, commencing 
May 23, and continuing to May 28. It was the first in 
the heart of the South. It was a large conference, al- 
though the South was not as largely represented as was 
hoped for. Still, the conference was royally entertained 
by the citizens of Nashville, and all its departments were 
well sustained. Outside of the discussions, my only 
contribution was a paper entitled "Board of State Chari- 
ties as Boards of Control. ' ' 

In this conference, for the first time, special promi- 
nence was given to the subject of training schools for 
nurses in four separate papers. There was also an ad- 
mirable paper on "The Duty of the State to the Insane," 
by Dr. K. N. Brush, superintendent of the Sheppard 
Asylum, Maryland, and another on "Provision for 
Epileptics," by Hon. Wm. P. Letchworth, of New 
York, chairman Board of State Charities. The annual 
sermon by Prof. Collens Denny, of Vanderbilt University, 
was also very good and very largely attended. 

To the delegates from Northern States, to most of 
whom the South was unfamiliar, the number of church- 
going people in Nashville (double that of Northern 
cities), was a great surprise. The members of the con- 
ference, as usual, marched in a body to the hall where 
service was held, and found the sidewalks so thronged 
with people going to church, that they were compelled 
to take to the middle of the street in order to get there. 

At the Nashville conference, an invitation was re- 
ceived from the Federation of Women's Clubs, in Mem- 
phis, to hold an adjourned meeting in that city, and 
after consideration, was duly accepted, and it was ex- 



EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION. 349 

pected that quite a large number of delegates, going 
north by the L,ouisville & Nashville Railroad, would go 
via Memphis, and stop off for the adjourned confer- 
ence. Unfortunately, it was found that return tickets at 
reduced rates could only be had by coming back to 
Nashville, and remaining over an entire day, and it 
looked as if the Memphis conference would have to be 
abandoned. 

The Memphis delegates seemed so much disappointed 
that a few of us determined to stand by them, and suc- 
ceeded in organizing a party of five, consisting of C. B. 
Faulkner, superintendent of Soldiers' Orphan Home, of 
Kansas; Mrs. Agnes D'Aarcambal, matron Home of In- 
dustry, Detroit, Michigan; Lucy M. Sickles, superin- 
tendent State Industrial School for Girls, of Michigan, 
and myself. Our reception at Memphis was exceedingly 
cordial. We were taken direct to the elegant library 
building overlooking the Mississippi river, where ad- 
dresses of welcome and responses were made which were 
followed by a reception and lunch tendered by the club 
ladies. 

After lunch we were given a ride in a steamer for an 
hour up and down and across the river. Returning, we 
were taken to the lecture-room of the Federation of 
Clubs Building. The regular work of the conference 
then began. The audience was an ideal one, and com- 
prised about two hundred men and women, the very 
elite of the city, and a more appreciative audience I have 
rarely seen. Only such topics were taken up as were de- 
sired, and there was ample time for consideration, their 
presentation was more complete than was possible at the 
regular conference in Nashville. 

In the afternoon, the program was "Boards of State 
Charity," by myself ; "Juvenile Reformatories," by Mrs. 
Sickels; and "Kindergartens," by Mrs. D'Aarcambal. 



350 RKCOU<KCTlONS OF A LIFETIME. 

In the evening, "Child Saving Methods," with stereopti- 
can illustrations,' were presented by Homer Folks, and 
"Prisoners' Aid Associations," by Mrs. D'Aarcambal. 
Mrs. D'Aarcambal was a wonderful woman, and her 
Home of Industry for discharged prisoners was a model 
for the nation. She did much also in kindergaten work, 
and her presentation of that topic was admirable. The 
next morning, the ladies had another meeting at the club 
house, and Faulkner and I were invited to talk upon 
the prison question to the judges and lawyers at the 
court-house. 

I took up an hour upon the general topic, and Mr. 
Faulkner presented very fully the Klmira system for the 
reformation of prisoners and its methods of administra- 
tion. The results were very gratifying in several direc- 
tions, the first of which was the organization of a Board 
of State Charities for the State of Tennessee. 

The National Prison Congress for 1894 convened at 
St. Paul, Minnesota, on the 16th of June, and con- 
tinued until the evening of the 20th. Without the at- 
traction of an ex-president of the United States, I had 
feared that the attendance would be largely curtailed, 
and was agreeably disappointed in finding the number of 
delegates fully equal to the attendance in former years. 
The meetings were held in the hall of the house of rep- 
resentatives, and more than usual interest was mani- 
fested by citizens. The discussions of the congress were 
upon a high plain, and the weight of its deliverance, I 
think, will compare very favorably with any previous 
congress, as our annual report will show. 

Returning, quite a number of delegates went to Duluth, 
and thence by the lakes on the steamship Great Northern. 
At Duluth, a reception and dinner was given to us, and 
a day was spent very pleasantly and profitabfy. The 
Great Northern is the finest vessel ever put upon our in- 



EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION. 35 1 

land waters, and is said to equal the finest ocean liners 
in her appointments. It was her second trip, and our 
party instituted the first Sunday service held upon the 
boat, and carried it out successfully. 

The fourth Annual Conference of Charities and Cor- 
rection was held at Kenton, commencing on the evening 
of the 9th of October and continuing until noon on the 
1 2th. There were about one hundred and fifty delegates 
representing state and county institutions, and the papers 
and discussions were instructive and valuable. The 
local attendance was not what we had hoped for, but it 
was all, probably, that we had a right to expect from a 
county so far behind as not to have a Board of County 
Visitors. However, we sowed good seed, and trust that 
some fell upon good ground. My contributions were a 
report upon ''Boards of County Visitors," and a paper 
upon "Associated Charities in Small Cities." 

Returning, I went with Captain Stiles, the superin- 
tendent of the Girls' Industrial Home at Delaware, to 
attend an entertainment at the institution, and made an 
address to the inmates at its close. 

During the year I visited all the state institutions ex- 
cept the Hospital for the Insane at Cleveland, and the 
Soldiers' Home at Sandusky. In our board report for 
the year the topics assigned me were: "Our Penal Re- 
formatory Institutions," and I endeavored to present the 
needs of these institutions with considerable fullness, and 
hope it did some good. 

On the 12th of December, 1894, Mr. Woolley, the 
famous advocate for prohibition as a panacea for all the 
ills of intemperance, spoke to a very large audience at 
our Congregational church, and I went to hear him. He 
is certainly an effective speaker, but his logic was ex- 
ecrable, and his attacks upon the churches seemed so un- 
just to Christian people that I felt that some one ought 



352 RKCOI^ECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

to call a halt upon him; and remembering the old maxim 
that ''when you really want a thing done, do it your- 
self, ' ' I felt as Paul did at Athens, and found Mars Hill 
in the shape of an interview next day in the "Mansfield 
Daily News' ' : 

"How did Mr. Woolley impress you as a speaker?" inquired a 
"News" reporter of General Brinkerhoff. 

"I was charmed by his rhetoric and outraged by his logic. 

"According to his logic Christ, if in Ohio, would vote the Pro- 
hibition ticket. Only two per cent of Christians vote the Pro- 
hibition ticket. Hence, ninety-eight per cent of the Christians 
are sons of Belial. If his major premise is correct his con- 
clusions are correct; but he did not prove it, or attempt to do 
so. Christ in Palestine certainly did not stand for prohibition, and 
hence the Woolleys of Jerusalem branded him as a wine bibber and 
a glutton. Christ certainly did stand for temperance, not only in 
drinking, but in eating also, and for that matter, in everything 
else; but he did not compel temperance by force in anything. 
Christ had all power; and yet when his disciples insisted that he 
should call down fire from heaven upon the Samaritans because 
they refused to give him shelter, he said: 'Ye know not what man- 
ner of spirit ye are of, for the Son of Man came not to destroy but 
to save.' Again, before Pilate, amidst the howling mob, he had 
all power, but he did not use it, and permitted himself to be cruci- 
fied that he might draw all men unto him by infinite pity and in- 
finite love. 

"Prohibition as a matter of state policy may be wise or unwise; 
but when Mr. Woolley insists that churches are 'gilded frauds' be- 
cause all Christians do not vote the Prohibition ticket, I protest. 
Mr. Woolley may be a Christian, and I hope he is; but his Chris- 
tianity is that of Peter, who drew his sword and cut off the ear of 
the servant of the high priest, and then went into the court of the 
high priest and denied his master. 

"I confess I was pained and not pleased with Mr. Woolley. His 
representation of the churches, in my judgment, will do more 
harm than the brutal blasphemy of Bob Ingersoll. The bludgeon 
of an open enemy we do not fear, but the dagger of a friend is 
dangerous. ' ' 

This whole subject of dealing with the saloon is cer- 



EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION. 353 

tainly a perplexing one; but I have long been satisfied 
that prohibition, except, perhaps, in rural districts, where 
public sentiment is practically unanimous, does more 
harm than good. Under existing conditions I am inclined 
to think that high license and strict regulation is our best 
policy. Unfortunately, our state constitution prohibits 
license. After all, I am not sure but revivals of religion 
and the hygienic teaching of the young will always be 
our surest reliance against intemperance. 



354 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Events of 1895 and 1896. 

Accident in Washington City — Semi-centennial address — New Ha- 
ven Conference — Trip to Europe — British Islands— Interna- 
tional Prison Congress — French hospitality — At dinner with 
President Faure — Address at banquet — Sessions of congress. 

Under the rule of biennial sessions the legislature did 
not meet in 1894-5, and hence there was no legislation 
to record. Early in January, I had accepted an invita- 
tion to deliver an address at the semi-centennial anniver- 
sary of the New York Prison Association, at Chickering 
Hall in that city, on the 28th of February, and in order 
to meet my engagement I left home on the 24th, intend- 
ing to stop over in Washington for two days. 

Arriving in Washington at 2 p. m. on the 25th, I went 
directly to the French legation in response to an invita- 
tion for a conference in regard to the International 
Prison Congress which was to be held in Paris in July. 
After remaining there an hour I went to the capitol to 
call on my member of congress and Senator Sherman. 
Not finding them I went over to the new library build- 
ing, and then came back to the capitol, and went down 
to the avenue to take a car to the Ebbitt House. Stand- 
ing by the track watching for a car, I was run down by a 
reckless driver, and badly injured, and barely escaped with 
my life. The bystanders gathered me up and took me 
in a carriage to the Ebbitt House, where I remained until 
the next day, when I was conveyed to the Baltimore and 
Ohio Depot, and put into a sleeper and sent home, where 



EVENTS OF 1895 AND 1 896. 355 

I remained on crutches for a month or more, but finally 
recovered sufficiently to attend the National Conference 
of Charities and Corrections in the month of May 
following. 

My accident, of course, prevented my attendance at 
the semi-centennial anniversary, but the address I had 
prepared was forwarded and read. It was entitled 
" Fifty Years of Progress," and was as follows: 

"Prison reform in the nation" during the past fifty years is too 
large a territory to delineate in fifteen minutes, even in bold out- 
line, and therefore I will only attempt a few mountain peaks in 
the general landscape. Progress has been slow, and sometimes we 
feel that it is discouragingly slow, but nevertheless there has been 
progress; and when we look back fifty years, to the time when the 
New York Prison Association was organized, we see there has been 
some progress in almost every direction. As time will not per- 
mit any reference to details, I will only speak of a few principles 
which have gained general acceptance in the period under con- 
sideration, and largely, I think, through the influence of the New 
York Prison Association. 

I. The object of prisons and prison legislatiou is no longer 
punishment, per se, as it once was, but the protection of society. 
This principle, like the leaven which the woman hid in three 
measures of meal, is slowly but surely leavening the whole lump. 
For the protection of society it has been found that reformation is 
better than deterrence, and hence prisons are becoming moral 
hospitals for the cure of criminals instead of penitentiaries for 
punishing them. 

II. If prisons are moral hospitals, then it follows as the day'the 
night that commitments to them must be indefinite, so that 
prisoners can be kept under treatment until they are cured, and 
hence the indeterminate sentence was inaugurated at Elmira 
twenty years ago, and is one of the mountain peaks of the new era. 
The indeterminate sentence is now authorized in half a dozen states 
and is rapidly advancing. 

III. Another mountain peak in our half century landscape is the 
grading, marking and parole system initiated by Captain Maco- 
nochie at Norfolk Island, and perfected by Brockway Scott and 
Mrs. Johnson, in America. Auxiliary to this, the classification of 



35^ RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

prisons, as well as prisoners, is a principle now generally received, 
and to some extent practiced. In Massachusetts, there are now 
three grades of prisons, one for incorrigibles, at Charleston; one 
for young men convicted of their first offense, at Concord; and one 
for women, at Sherborn. In several other states there are at least 
two grades of convict prisons. 

IV. In the matter of prison punishments there has also been a 
large advance in the direction of a more humane treatment of 
prisoners, and that too, without detriment to the discipline of 
prisons. Fifty years ago, corporal punishments were in every 
prison, but now they are the exception rather than the rule, and in 
a majority of northern prisons they have ceased to exist, and de- 
privation of privileges and good time allowances have taken their 
place. 

V. Educational advantages, moral, intellectual and industrial, 
are almost entirely a development of the new era. Almost every 
prison has a chaplain for the moral and religious culture of in- 
mates, and a prison school where the ignorant can at least learn to 
read and write. Industrial training also in many prisons, is a 
special feature, and prisoners are prepared to earn an honest living 
when they are discharged. 

VI. Another important advance has been the post-penitentiary 
treatment of discharged convicts, by prisoners' aid associations, 
of which the New York Prison Association has been a conspicuous 
example. The advance in this direction has not been what it 
ought to have been, but among penologists, the consensus of the 
opinion is practically unanimous that without it reformatory treat- 
ment in prison loses half its value. 

VII. I am also glad to say, that in the construction and adminis- 
tration of county jails, considerable progress has been made. At 
least the principle is now universally admitted by American penolo- 
gists, that county jails should be solely for the detention of prison- 
ers awaiting trial, and that every prisoner should be entirely sepa- 
rated from every other prisoner, and nearly all new jails are now 
being constructed to secure this result. 

VIII. The largest advance, however, made in America in dealing 
with the criminal classes in the last fifty years, have been in the 
treatment of juvenile offenders. Their separation from adult of- 
fenders is now practically universal, and they are gathered into in- 
dustrial schools, and so trained and taught that almost as many of 
them grow up to be good citizens as do those in our ordinary com- 
mon schools. 



EVENTS OF 1895 AND 1896. 357 

IX. Another principle worthy of mention is the probation and 
supervision of misdemeanants under a suspended sentence, as in- 
augurated in Massachusetts, and practiced in several other states 
to a limited extent, and has shown itself worthy of imitation 
everywhere. 

X. Cumulative sentences are also generally approved, and are 
now in operation in Ohio for misdemeanants and also for felons, so 
far as to make a third conviction punishable by life imprisonment. 
This latter feature has been adopted in several other states. 

XI. In recent years large attention has been given to prevention, 
and the general consensus of opinion is that in this direction our 
greatest victories in our war with crime are to be obtained in the 
future. Much has been done, and more will be done for the im- 
provement of prisons and the reformation of prisoners, but it is 
clearly evident that if we are to make any large reduction in the 
increasing volume of crime, we must rely upon prevention rather 
than cure, and must go to the fountain-head and deal with the 
children. Our common schools must educate the hand and the 
heart as well as the head, and kindergartens everywhere must sup- 
plement the common schools. The greatest work in kindergartens 
in America has been done in San Francisco. The Hon. P. Crowly, 
chief of police for that city, reports that in eleven years only one 
arrest has been made out of nine thousand children trained in 
kindergartens. 

"In conclusion, it is cheering to say that when we look back 
through the vista of fifty years and see what was, and then consider 
what is, we are able to thank God and take courage and look for- 
ward with hopefulness to the future. In fact, I am very sure that 
when the New York Prison Association celebrates its next semi-cen- 
tennial anniversary, or rather its full centennial, that those who par- 
ticipate will be able to chronicle even larger progress than we do 
now. When we remember how slow the processes of evolution 
are, and how many eons of time it has taken to bring the earth to 
its present development, let us be hopeful and not doubtful, for 
we know that God lives and that the trend of humanity is upward 
and not downward. 

"We may fail here through want of co-operation with the 
forces of the infinite and lose our own reward, but God's elact 
shall not perish from the earth, and man's redemption shall 
surely come. As the great globe swings in its mighty orbit 
around the sun, and lifts its polar ice crowns into the dissolving 
summer, so let us have the faith to believe that in the grander 



358 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

cycles of human destiny the long and icy winter of humanity is 
evolving into the golden summer of the Son of Man." 

During the time I had been upon the Board of State 
Charities and Correction, a period of seventeen years, I 
had made a careful study of our American methods of 
dealing with the defective and criminal classes, and 
visited nearly all of the typical institutions provided for 
these classes in the United States and Dominion of Can- 
ada, and had long desired to make comparisons with 
European institutions of a similar character, and at last 
the time had come about when it seemed practicable to 
do so. 

The International Prison Congress, which meets every 
five years, was to assemble in Paris, in 1895, on the 30th 
of June, and upon recommendation of the American 
Prison Congress of 1894, I was appointed one of the 
delegates by the government at Washington, and had 
agreed to go. My visit to Washington was in prepara- 
tion for the prison congress, and on my return, as I was 
confined to my house with nothing else to do, I devoted 
my time to the preparation of a comprehensive itinerary 
by careful study of guide-books and other sources of in- 
formation. 

Honorable W. S. Gresham, secretary of state, had 
sent me a letter of introduction, of which the following 
is a copy, and now that I had the enforced leisure to 
utilize it, it proved of great value: 

Washington, February 16, 1895. 
To the Diplomatic and Consular Officers of the United 
States: 
Gentlemen — I herewith introduce General R. Brinkerhoff, of 
Mansfield, in the State of Ohio, who is proceeding to Europe, in- 
tending, if possible, to investigate prisons and reformatories in 
certain countries there. General Brinkerhoff is president of the 
National Prison Association of the United States, and chairman of 



EVENTS OF 1895 AND 1 896. 359 

the Ohio Board of State Charities. He will properly appreciate 
any official courtesies it may be in your power to extend during 
his sojourn abroad. 

These, it will be agreeable to the department, to have you ex- 
tend. I am, gentleman, your obedient servant, 

W. S. Gresham. 

I sent copies of this letter to the consuls of the United 
States in the line of my itinerary, about forty in num- 
ber, and specified the information I desired, and re- 
quested that they should secure permits to visit such in- 
stitutions as they might deem desirable to inspect. I re- 
ceived prompt replies from all of them, and much valuable 
information. With their aid, all arrangements for my 
coming were made in advance, so that no time was 
lost anywhere, and I was enabled to see more in three 
months than I otherwise could in six months, and 
possibly in a year. European prisons are especially diffi- 
cult of access, and permits must be obtained by appli- 
cations to the central government of the countries in 
which they are located. 

The National Conference of Charities and Correction 
for 1895, was held at New Haven, Connecticut, com- 
mencing May 24th and closing May 30th. It was larger 
in numbers than any previous conference, and its annual 
report was larger. I attended the most of its general 
sessions, and some of the section meetings, and partici- 
pated in the discussions. On the afternoon of the 13th, 
I went to New York, and remained there until June 1st, 
and then, in company with Philip W. Ayres, secretary 
of the Associated Charities of Cincinnati, I left for Eu- 
rope on the Cunard steamer, Campagnia. Mr. Ayres 
was also a delegate to the Paris congress, appointed by 
Governor McKinley to represent the State of Ohio. 

We landed at Queenstown, Ireland, on the morning 
of the yth of June, where our consul met us and put us 



360 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

on the train for Cork, where he had arranged for a visit 
to the prison in that city. He also telephoned the gov- 
ernor of the prison, whom we found waiting for our ar- 
rival. During the next three weeks, we visited many of 
the leading institutions for the dependent, defective, and 
criminal classes in Ireland, Scotland, and England, and 
arrived in Paris via Dover and Calais on the evening of 
June 27th. Before leaving home, I had written to all 
the American delegates to meet in Paris at noon on the 
28th of June at the parlors of the banking-house of John 
Munro & Company, and a majority of the delegates were 
promptly on time. In accordance with the rules of the 
congress, an organization was effected, and I was selected 
President of the delegation, and Rev. Samuel J. Bar- 
rows, of Boston, was made secretary. 

The International Prison Congress, as I have already 
stated, was organized through the efforts of an Ameri- 
can, the Rev. K. C. Wines, and was first convened in 
IyOndon, in 1872, and then, successively, for each five 
years, in Stockholm, Rome, St. Petersburg, and Paris. In 
Paris, twenty-five nations were represented by about four 
hundred delegates, one-half of whom were from France. 
The United States were represented by fifteen dele- 
gates, four of whom were appointed by the Secretary of 
State, and eleven by governors of states. The congress 
was opened on the evening of June 30th, at the great 
ampi theater of the Sarbonne, in the presence of the 
President of the Republic, M. Felix Faure, and many 
high officials of the government, and after the services 
were over the foreign delegates assembled in the Grand 
Salon of the Sarbonne, where they were presented to 
President Faure, who was surrounded by his ministers, 
the president of the chamber of deputies, ministers of 
foreign countries, and by his military escort. 

The French government welcomed and entertained the 



EVENTS OF 1895 AND 1 896. 36 1 

members of this congress with even more than their or- 
dinary politeness and hospitality. Almost every evening 
there was some splendid banquet or reception to the del- 
egates. One night the President of the Republic, M. 
Felix Faure, entertained them, and received them with 
all the pomp of military guards and music in the splen- 
did apartments of the Palace of the Elysee. Another 
evening the minister of the interior, M. L,eygues, received 
them with similar state, in salons and gardens, both 
brilliantly lighted. The Paris municipality voted a large 
sum of money for a grand banquet and reception at the 
Hotel de Ville. One of the most interesting of the en- 
tertainments during the congress was the dinner given to 
the foreign delegates by the French Prison Society, on 
the Kiffel Tower. The visitors were taken up in lifts to 
the large restaurants on the first stage of the tower, 
where they were welcomed by their French friends in 
a most hearty manner. Three ministers of state were 
present and made admirable speeches. 

One of the receptions given was a special dinner at the 
Palace of the Klysee, by President Faure, to which the 
presidents of delegations only were invited, and about an 
equal number of distinguished officials, civil and mili- 
tary. Next to me on my right was a senator of France, 
and on my left M. Galkine-wraskoy, the president of the 
Russian delegation. On receiving the invitation of Pres- 
ident Faure, my first impulse was to decline, for two rea- 
sons: first, because it did not seem fair that I should be 
the only American delegate invited; and second, because 
not being able to speak French, and none of my col- 
leagues with me who could, I should be in a very un- 
pleasant position. 

In my dilemma I went to our American ambassador, 
Mr. Eustice, for advice, and he promptly informed me 
that an invitation from the president of the republic was 



362 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

tantamount to a command, and it would be considered an 
insult to refuse. Of course I accepted; and as Mr. Rug- 
gles-Brise, the head of the British delegation, who could 
speak French like a native, proposed that we should go 
together, I had no linguistic troubles. However, I would 
have had no trouble any way, for President Faure spoke 
English fairly well, and so did his daughter, and they 
were very courteous, and I got along very well. 

On the evening of July 9th, a dinner was given by for- 
eign delegates to the French committee on organization. 
It was held at L,a Maison Bubat, Champs Ely sees. The 
dinner was given in a tent decorated with the flags of all 
nations, while an excellent orchestra rendered the na- 
tional airs of different countries. Toasts and speeches 
by distinguished guests were continued to a late hour. 
An incident especially interesting to Americans was the 
tribute paid by Dr. Guillaume, the general secretary, to 
the late Dr. E. C. Wines, to which I was called upon to 
respond on behalf of the American delegation. 

My address was reported in the daily bulletin of the 
congress, as follows: 

Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen: On behalf of the 
American delegation, I desire to express our appreciation of the 
high honor accorded our country by Dr. Guillaume in the tribute 
he has given to the services rendered by our distinguished coun- 
tryman, Rev. Dr. B. C. Wines. No other man in America has 
done so much for the reformation of prisons as Dr. Wines. To 
him we owe the organization of our National Prison Association, 
which has met annually from 1870 to 1895, and every year in a 
different state, and its influence for good in prison progress has 
been more potential than all other causes combined. The National 
Prison Association of America was organized in 1870, and out of it 
grew the International Prison Congress, which held its first session 
in London in 1872, and therefore America is proud to unite with 
Europe in according high honor to that godly man and Christian 
philanthropist. Dr. Guillaume has suggested the desirability of a 
representative from America upon the International Prison Com- 



3VKNTS OF 1895 AND 1896. 363 

mission, and I am very glad to say that this suggestion has been 
anticipated by the American delegates. At a meeting held July 
fourth it was voted by the American delegation to present the mat- 
ter to the national association. I hope America will have a mem- 
ber upon the international commission for the congress of 1900. 

And now, Mr. President, in conclusion, allow me to say, on be- 
half of the American delegation, that we are glad to be here, and 
that we appreciate very highly the many courtesies we have re- 
ceived from the delegates of other countries, and especially that we 
appreciate the wonderful hospitality of the citizens of Paris and of 
France in the entertainments and attentions, both official and un- 
official, that have been extended to us and to all other members of 
the congress. America is the friend of all nations, and the enemy 
of none, but she is especially friendly to the Republic of France. 

In addition to these entertainments, excursions were 
given every other day to visit points in the neighborhood 
of the city; one was to Versailles, another to St. Ger- 
maine, and still another to the famous palace and park of 
Fontainebleau, where a grand banquet was given in the 
evening. 

During the sessions of the congress, which continued 
until the nth of July, the congress occupied itself with 
two main divisions of work — firstly, the consideration of 
a very valuable and comprehensive series of papers and 
reports prepared months previous by experts in the vari- 
ous countries; and, secondly, with speeches and discus- 
sions arising out of these papers. The delegates were 
distributed amongst four sections or departments, each 
meeting in a separate hall of the large institution of the 
College of France, at the Sor bonne. The sections were 
respectively occupied with the consideration of — (I) 
Penal Legislation; (II) Prison Discipline; (III) Pre- 
ventive Means; (IV) Juvenile Offenders. In the second 
section, I was complimented with the vice-presidency. 
Of the American delegation, only three or four could 
speak French, so that we were at a disadvantage in the 



364 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

discussions. However, any delegate could speak in his 
own language upon the subject under discussion, and an 
interpreter would translate into French. At one of the 
general sessions, the American delegation was invited to 
present features of their prison sj^stem peculiar to their 
own country, and especially the Klmira system. This 
invitation was accepted, and I was selected to present 
the general features of the Klmira system, and Major R. 
W. McClaughry, superintendent of the Illinois Reform- 
atory, the administrative features. 

On our return to America, the national delegates pre- 
pared a report of the proceedings of the congress, which 
was transmitted to congress, and was printed, together 
with my personal report upon British and continental 
prisons. My report was also printed as Bulletin No. 6 
by the Board of State Charities. 

Leaving Paris on the nth of July, we went directly to 
Neuchatel, in Switzerland, and then for a week visited 
institutions in that republic, and then through Germany, 
Holland and Belgium. From Ostend, in Belgium, we 
returned to Dover, in England, and then visited institu' 
tions in South and West England. From start to finish, 
we followed our itinerary like a railroad time-table, and 
reached Liverpool on the 226. of August, and then, on 
the 24th, sailed for New York on the Cunard steamer 
Umbria. 

Everywhere our American ministers and consuls had 
every arrangement made for our coming, and everywhere 
we were treated with distinguished consideration and 
courtesy, as representatives of the government of the 
United States, and the officials in the various countries 
afforded every facility possible for our investigations. 
Another great advantage I had was in Mr. Ay res, who 
could speak both French and German, and acted as in- 



EVENTS OF 1895 AND 1896. 365 

terpreter in all countries upon the continent. In our 
travels, we not only saw institutions under the most 
favorable circumstances, but we saw everything else that 
tourists usually see, and probably a good deal more. 
And in the next chapter, I will give some general im- 
pressions as to what we saw. 



366 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Impressions of European Travel. 

British Islands— Irish and Scotch hospitality — English hospitality 
— Crosby Hall — Historic places in London — John Bull, a gen- 
tleman — France — Switzerland — Germany — Coblentz — Dussel- 
(Jorf — German social life — Holland — From Zutphen to Rotter- 
dam — Belgium — Ostend to Dover — South and West Kngland — 
Gloucester — Hardwicke Court — Birmingham — Stratford-on- 
Avon — Chester — Liverpool — Liverpool to New York — The Na- 
tional Prison Congress — Legislation in 1895 and 1896 — The 
National Conference — State Conference of 1896. 

My observations from day to day, as recorded in my 
journals, were published in a series of thirty articles in 
the * 'Sunday Shield," of my city, commencing in Decem- 
ber, 1895, which, if printed in a volume, would occupy 
three or four hundred pages, and therefore in the recol- 
lections I am now recording I can only find room for a 
few general impressions of the countries I visited in Eu- 
rope and of the people I met. 

Altogether, going and coming, we spent five weeks in 
the British Islands. Landing at Queenstown, June 7, 
1895, we traversed the whole length of Ireland, stop- 
ping off at Cork, Dublin, and Belfast; thence, across the 
Irish Sea from I^arne to Stranraer in Scotland, we visited 
in succession Ayr, Glasgow, the Scotch lakes, Sterling 
and Sterling Castle, Perth, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Mel- 
rose; thence to Newcastle-on-Tyne, and down the whole 
length of the east England country, stopping off at Dur- 
ham, York, Cambridge, Iyondon and Dover. On our re- 
turn from the Continent, in August, we took in South 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 367 

and West England, visiting Canterbury, Ashford, 
Brighton, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight, Southampton, 
Salisbury, Bristol, Gloucester, Birmingham, Stratford-on- 
Avon, Chester, and Liverpool. The weather was delight- 
ful, everybody was kind, and daylight in summer con- 
tinued from three o'clock in the morning until ten at 
night, so that we were able to see a good deal of the 
British Islands in five weeks. 

As a somewhat extensive traveler upon the American 
continent, I had discovered that the treatment a tourist 
receives is largely dependent upon himself. If he is 
friendly and appreciative, he will receive a friendly 
greeting, but if he is a critic and faultfinder, he will 
be met in a similar spirit. In going abroad, therefore, 
I made a rule to commend that which was superior, 
and to say nothing of that which was inferior, and the 
result was that in all countries everybody was kind and 
helpful, and I do not remember of receiving any dis- 
courtesy anywhere. This was especially the case in 
Great Britain, where so many tourists complain of rough 
treatment. 

I was amply supplied with letters of introduction, but 
I rarely used them, and for the reason I rarely needed 
them. A few examples from a great number of similar 
experiences will illustrate what I mean. We landed at 
Queenstown in the early morning of June 7th, and ar- 
rived at Dublin in time for a six o'clock dinner at the 
Gresham Hotel. It was an elegant hotel, and as we 
came out into the smoking-room I had occasion to say 
so to Mr. Ayres, and indicated some things in which it 
was superior to most American hotels. Two gentlemen 
near by seemed pleased, and entered into conversation. 
As they seemed friendly, I asked them questions about 
the city of Dublin and its attractions. As there were 
still three hours of daylight, it occurred to me to ask 



368 RKCOU.BCTIONS OP A UFETIME. 

what there was near by that we could see at that time. 
Of course they knew that we were Americans, and my 
Iyoyal Legion button disclosed the fact that I had been 
a soldier, and so one of them proposed that we go to the 
Phoenix Park, and visit the barracks, and hear the mili- 
tary band, and upon our assent, he called a carriage, and 
we had a delightful introduction to Dublin and its hos- 
pitalities. 

Our new friends were natives and residents of Dublin. 
The elder, as we learned afterwards, was a famous 
criminal lawyer. The younger was a Trinity College 
graduate, who had passed his examination for the bar 
that day, and was to be admitted in the morning. It 
was two or three miles to the park, and a delightful ride, 
and on our arrival at the barracks they took us to the 
officers' quarters, where our barrister friend seemed to 
know everybody and everybody knew him, and we were 
introduced all around, and had a good time generally. 
The officers of her majesty's service are gentlemen where- 
ever you find them, and of course we had a delightful 
evening. 

Phoenix Park with its 1,720 acres is the largest in 
Dublin, and I have no doubt is a very fine one, but we 
only saw it at night. There were hundreds of carriages 
with city people who were out to hear the music, and, upon 
the whole, we found our first evening in Ireland one of 
great interest and well worth remembering. Our friends 
escorted us to our hotel and invited us to attend the courts 
in the morning, which we were compelled to decline as our 
program had already been arranged for the next day to 
visit institutions. So we bade adieu to our friends, and 
will ever remember the Irish hospitality we received from 
total strangers in the city of Dublin. This cordiality of 
treatment was not limited to Dublin and other Irish 
cities, but was equally conspicuous in Scotland and 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 369 

England wherever occasion called for attention from 
strangers. This was really contrary to my expecta- 
tions, for the testimony of American tourists seems to 
be, very largely, that John Bull is a surly old fellow, 
and very offish with strangers unless they come well 
fortified with letters of introduction. We were amply 
provided with letters, but we rarely used them, except 
where permits were essential in visiting public insti- 
tutions. 

At first I was inclined to think that the Irish and 
Scotch were friendly to Americans because so many 
of their kinsmen were located among us, but all over 
England we found ourselves equally at home. Take 
for example our first experience in London. We came 
into that city at night. It was in June. Parliament 
was in session, the races were on, and scores of con- 
ferences and conventions were in progress, and the 
result was the hotels were so crowded that we had 
trouble in getting shelter for the night, and did not 
get permanently settled until late in the morning. We 
were at a boarding house near the British Museum, 
several miles from Bishopgate street, near the Bank of 
England, where the office of a friend was located, who 
was the first man I wanted to visit. To go there we 
went to Holborn street, near by, and got on top of an 
omibus and made our first excursion to the heart of 
London. We soon came to buildings about which in- 
formation was desirable, and therefore I interrogated 
a gentleman in the seat behind me. He was an in- 
telligent Englishman who had spent his life in London, 
and finding that we were Americans on our first trip 
in the city, he seemed to be pleased to give us all needed 
information as we rode along for an hour in the slow- 
moving procession of vehicles great and small. I told 
24 



370 rkcoi^fctions of a lifetime. 

him I wanted to stop off at Bishopgate, and he said his 
office was on that street and he would show us our way. 
At last we reached Bishopgate, and descending from the 
omnibus he went with us for a few blocks to his office, 
and directed us to our destination a few blocks away. 
In parting he invited us to call on our way back, as he 
wanted to show us some interesting localities in the 
neighborhood, which tourists did not often see. 

Returning about noon we concluded to call upon our 
new friend. We found that he was the president of a 
big water-supply compan}^, and was busy with a com- 
mittee meeting, but came out and invited us into his 
private office, and gave us the morning papers and told 
us to wait a few minutes, when he would be at leisure. 
In a quarter of an hour or less he was ready to go with 
us, and proposed that we should get a lunch at Crosby 
Hall, near by, as it was one of the places he desired to 
show us. 

Crosby Hall was built by Sir John Crosby in 1466, and 
is said to be the only mediaeval gothic dwelling now in 
Iyondon, and has a famous history. It was first occupied 
by the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III. 
For a long time it was used for the reception of ambas- 
sadors, and was considered the finest house in Iyondon. 
Under Cromwell it was used as a prison, and then in suc- 
cession as a church, warehouse and lecture room. Re- 
cently it has been restored and used as a restaurant. 
The old banquet hall with its fine oaken roof is now the 
main dining room. Certainty it was a very interesting 
place, and we were much obliged for the opportunity 
of seeing it and for the elegant lunch he ordered. 

After lunch, our new friend spent the whole after- 
noon with us, and took us in succession to the old church 
of St. Hellena, where Shakespeare was a parishoner, 
thence to the Tower of London, where we spent an hour 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEI*. 37 1 

or two, thence to old London Bridge and across it, and 
then put us on a steamer and took us up the Thames to 
Westminister Bridge, passing on the way Temple Bar, 
Somerset House, Waterloo Bridge and other famous 
places. Near by were the Houses of Parliament, West- 
minister Hall, St. Margaret's Church, all of which we 
visited, winding up at Westminister Abbey between eight 
and nine o'clock at night. Mr. Seaton, for that was his 
name, by this time knew that I was a banker at home, 
and suggested that the next afternoon he would take us 
to the Bank of England and in the meantime would se- 
cure permits for that purpose. I told him I would be 
glad to see the Bank of England, but I thought we 
had already imposed upon him too long. "Not at all," 
he replied, "for if you have enjoyed this tramp as much 
as I have, you certainly ought to be satisfied." 

The next day, with Mr. Seaton and a guide, we went 
through the Bank of England from the rooms above to 
the money vaults in the basement, and had an oppor- 
tunity to see the famous institution to our entire satis- 
faction. In parting, Mr. Seaton suggested that in case 
we wanted to see Parliament in session, to call on him, 
as his partner was a member and would be glad to oblige 
us with tickets of admission. As an example of courtesy 
to strangers, two English tourists in America will have 
to travel a long time to find it equaled. 

John Bull, as we found him in any part of the British 
Islands, is not the burly beef eater we see in the comic news- 
papers. Neither is he offish or surly. On the contrary, 
wherever we went, whether among friends or strangers, 
we were treated with the utmost courtesy and kindness, 
and the fact that we were Americans seemed to be a pass- 
port to their hearts. The truth is, John Bull has a much 
kinder feeling for Americans than they have for him. I 
think he looks upon America as a father looks upon a 



372 RECOIXKCTIONS OF A IJFETIMK. 

boy who has grown to lusty manhood. He may be a 
little obstreperous once in a while, but the father likes 
him all the same, for he is a chip of the old block, and 
will be a credit to him after a while. 

L,ater on, one of our consuls told me that on the Fourth 
of July, Americans in Iyondon had a street parade during 
the day, under the stars and stripes, and in the evening 
they held a banquet, and made the eagle scream at his 
loudest, and John Bull only smiled as he would at boys 
in a frolic. We can imagine what would happen in New 
York if Englishmen, on one of their gala days, should 
parade Broadway and Central Park, under the Cross of 
St. George, and then make the lion roar at Delmonico's. 
The truth is, John Bull, with all his faults, is a fine old 
English gentleman, and even if we do get our backs up 
at him every once in a while, he is more worthy of con- 
fidence and respect than any other power in Europe. 
Personally, I have not a drop of English blood in my 
veins, as far as I know, and yet if an adverse fate should 
compel me to live outside of America, I would greatly 
prefer Great Britain to any other country. 

In France, our experiences were limited almost en- 
tirely to the City of Paris and its immediate surround- 
ings, about which I have already written. We left 
Paris on the morning of July nth, en route for Switzer- 
land. I do not love great cities, and am always glad to 
get out of them, and Paris was no exception. It is true, 
we were treated with the highest consideration, both of- 
ficially and unofficially, and I shall always remember 
gratefully the kindness and courtesies we received, but 
for me, life in Paris runs at too high a pressure, and its 
ideals are not my ideals. Intellectually, Paris is peer- 
less. In architecture and art, in science and literature, 
in music and oratory, and everything else that appeals to 
the senses, it has no equal; but alas! it has lost faith in 



IMPRESSIONS OF KUROPKAN TRAVKI*. 373 

God and the future, and its law of action seems to be 
"eat, drink and be merry, for to-morrow we die." 

The government, apparently, is atheistic in all of its 
action, and the very name of God is expurged from all 
official utterances, and responsibility to such a Being is 
carefully ignored in all official action. If Paris is 
France, as many writers claim, then God help France, 
for "mene, mene, teckel, upharsin" is written upon its 
banquet halls. With such reflections upon Paris, it was 
delightful to glide out of its walls upon the fast express 
into the free air of the country, through fertile fields and 
quiet village homes clustered about church spires, which 
we may hope stood for a faith which seems to have van- 
ished in Paris. 

All day long for 300 miles or more, we rolled through 
a country as beautiful as the Garden of Eden, and culti- 
vated like a garden, for it is divided for the most part into 
small holdings, and is owned by the people who live 
upon them. As a whole, I doubt if there is a finer body 
of land on earth, or better suited for the habitation of 
civilized men, than the provinces of France, and as I 
watched the great panorama unrolled before us hour by 
hour, I thanked God and took courage, for I could see 
that France was more than Paris, and I could hope that 
a great people, no longer the vassals of kings, but free 
citizens, with power through the ballot to dictate the 
policy of the nation, would see to it that the people of 
France and not Paris would shape the destinies of the 
future. As the sun declined through the western hills, 
we were in the shadow of the Jura Mountains, and in the 
valleys of Switzerland, and by 10 o'clock we were in the 
City of Neuchatel. 

To the tourist, there is no country in Europe more 
interesting than Switzerland. Its great mountains, 
its beautiful lakes and fertile valleys are unparalleled for 



374 RKCOIJ^CTIONS OF A UFF/TIME. 

scenery, and no country has a history more romantic, or 
a people more intelligent. In government, it is the most 
republican of republics. It is a little less in size and 
population than Ohio, and yet it is divided into twenty- 
two states or cantons. The government is similar to 
ours, with a federal assembly or congress, consisting of 
a state council or senate of forty-four members, and a 
national council corresponding to our house of rep- 
resentatives, with one hundred and forty-seven members. 
The languages of Switzerland are mainly German and 
French, although in cantons bordering on Italy, Italian 
is spoken a good deal. In cantons bordering on France, 
French preponderates; in cantons bordering on Germany, 
German preponderates. In the republic as a whole, 
German is spoken more than all other languages, and 
Protestants outnumber the Catholics. In manners and 
customs, however, the Swiss people are quite distinct 
from their neighbors, and have a nationality entirely 
their own. In its educational advantages, Switzerland is 
unsurpassed by any other country. Parents are com- 
pelled to send their children to school from the age of 
six to twelve, and the law is strictly enforced. There are 
universities of the German model at Basil, Berne and 
Zurich; and on the French plan at Geneva, and acade- 
mies of a high grade at Neuchatel and I^ausanne. The 
number of clubs for scientific, literary, musical and 
social purposes can be counted by the hundreds. 

In short, there is no people more intelligent than the 
Swiss. About the first thing that attracted my attention 
at Neuchatel, as I looked out of the hotel window in the 
morning, was a flag floating from a government building, 
and for the first time we saw a national banner with the 
cross for its emblem, instead of some beast or bird of 
prey. Unlike Paris, Switzerland has faith in God Al- 
mighty and Jesus Christ, His Son, and it makes the little 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 375 

republic great and free. We saw a great deal of Switzer- 
land, and visited all of the principal cities, and traversed 
its lakes and valleys, and climbed its great mountains. 
To write up fully my recollections of Switzerland would 
require a good-sized volume by itself. Switzerland is a 
little country, but it is a great country — great in liberty, 
great in intelligence, and great in faith — and its banner 
of the cross is a pledge of freedom and fraternity upon 
the earth and hopefulness for the world to come. 

We left Basel on the 2 2d of July, en route for Freiburg, 
forty miles north, in the province of Baden, in the Ger- 
man empire. The Rhine valley is a broad, fertile plain, 
and highly cultivated. To the west this plain extends 
for miles to the Vosges mountains, which constitute the 
boundary between Germany and France. To the east, 
not far away, is the Black Forest, which covers a range 
of mountains, or rather high hills, extending about 85 
miles north and south, and embraces a large area of 
country, and called black from the dark color of its pine 
trees. On our way north to Mayence, the head of navi- 
gation on the Rhine, we stopped off in succession at 
Freiburg, Baden Baden, Achern, Bruschal, Heidelberg, 
Mannheim, and Frankfort-on-the-Main. At Freiburg 
and Heidelberg are two great universities, and there for 
the first time we had evidence of the barbaric practice of 
duelling, which still continues in full force, and scarred 
faces are very common. In all German universities duel- 
ling still prevails, but I was glad to hear that it had been 
repudiated by all American students, of whom there are 
several thousands. The land in German}', as in France, 
is divided into narrow strips, in which are grown all the 
crops common to Ohio. The strips are from 25 to 500 feet 
wide, and alternate so as to secure a more frequent rota- 
tion of crops. Fences are very rare, and all roads are 
smooth as a floor, but they are not as wide as ours. The 



37^) k;,roi, mictions OF A WFSTIMK. 

railroad stations in Germany are not as artistic or con- 
venient as they are in Switzerland, but they are much 
better than ours. 

At Mayenee we took the steamer down the Rhine, and 
Stopped off for a day at Coblentz and Cologne. "The 
Rhine, the Rhine, the beautiful Rhine," has been so 
written up, and talked up, and painted up, that my ex- 
pectations were much beyond the reality. Of course, 
the old castles and their historic surroundings are ex- 
ceedingly interesting; but in the way of natural scenery, 
in comparison with such rivers as the Hudson or the Co- 
lumbia, the Rhine is much inferior. In short, there is 
but very little wild or picturesque scenery on the Rhine, 
and its mountains are simply high hills, terraced largely 
from shore to summit, and planted in vines. The ter- 
races, as the work of man, are stupendous, and there are 
thousands of miles of them, walled with solid stone, but 
they are not especially beautiful or picturesque. 

At Coblentz we spent the vSabbath and took in the old 
cathedral in our rambles, and from our hotel watched 
the soldiers, in companies and brigades, marching across 
the bridge of boats (1,200 feet long) to attend religious 
services in the various churches. Unlike the French 
government, the German emperor fosters the religious 
sentiment everywhere in his armies, and every German 
soldier is taught allegiance to God Almighty as well as to 
the fatherland. A finer lot of soldiers I never saw than 
those who marched across the Rhine that day to discharge 
their duties as Christians by attendance at church ser- 
vices. German soldiers are not mere hirelings, but are 
simply discharging a patriotic duty that every young man 
is required to do for two years in the German army, and 
therefore, like our national guard, the very flower of the 
German youth are in the service. The German army is 
the most perfect fighting machine on earth, and with such 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 377 

an army Germany has nothing to fear from without; but 
the weight of the machine and its magnitude may be too 
great for the country to bear continuously, and there 
may be trouble some day, but it will be internal and not 
external. 

Opposite Coblentz, on a projecting rock 300 feet above 
the Rhine, and inaccessible on three sides, stands the 
mighty fortress of Khrenbreitstein, the Gibraltar of the 
Rhine, and there we spent the afternoon. The views of 
the Rhine from the battlements are very fine, and the 
strength of the interior is most impressive. Here the 
Roman legions encamped before the birth of Christ, 
and here contending armies have often struggled for 
victory. 

Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine and the most 
renowned. Here Agrippiana, the mother of Nero, estab- 
lished a colony of Roman veterans in the year 5 1 ; and 
during the centuries that followed, more historical events 
have happened within its boundaries than in any other 
city in Northern Europe. Here we spent two days visit- 
ing for the most part benevolent and correctional institu- 
tions, which were the best we found in Germany; but we 
also visited the museum and the art gallery, and of 
course the great cathedral, the greatest in the world. 

Leaving Cologne, we went north twenty-four miles b}^ 
rail to Dusseldorf. Under the guidance of Mr. L,eiber, 
our American consul, we spent our first afternoon in 
visiting the new provincial prison and a new lunatic 
asylum in the suburbs, both of which were very credit- 
able. The next day, we took in other parts of the cit}^ 
and especially the museum and the art gallery, where we 
saw the magnificent marine views by Fuchs, which I 
have never seen surpassed. 

The social life of the German people, whilst it differs 
in many ways from ours, is very delightful, and espe- 



378 RECOU,ECTIONS OF A UFF/flME. 

cially so in their outdoor gatherings in parks and gardens. 
To most Americans a beer garden is a place to be 
avoided, but in Germany it is a place for family re- 
unions and general sociability, where the people, old and 
young, meet together and listen to fine music and discuss 
topics of the day. It is true they all drink beer or wine, 
old and young, male and female, but apparently in as 
much moderation and with as little harm as we do in 
drinking lemonade. All over Western Europe in the 
countries I visited, similar habits prevailed; but in all 
continental Europe, I saw but one man intoxicated, and 
he was an American in Paris, and that was on the Fourth 
of July, which in his estimation made it a pardonable 
offense. 

Germany is a large country, and we only saw its west- 
ern border, but time would not permit us to go eastward, 
and so going north from Dusseldorf fifty miles or more 
through a rich farming region, bounded on the east by 
the Rhine, we come to the borders of Holland in the 
province of Gelderland. 

Holland, or more properly speaking, the kingdom of 
the Netherlands, is only one- third as large as Ohio, and 
yet it has a population of about 5,000,000 and has a 
history as famous as any country in Europe, and its in- 
fluence upon our American institutions is probably 
greater than that of any other country except England. 
It was emigration from Holland to England during the 
persecutions of Philip II of Spain that carried Calvinism 
into that country, and later on carried the Pilgrim Fathers 
and Puritans to New England. It was Holland that 
sheltered the Pilgrims for eleven years, and then in New 
England they founded a commonwealth based upon the 
ideas they learned at L,eyden. It was the United Prov- 
inces of the Netherlands that furnished the pattern from 
which the United States of America was modeled. From 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 379 

Holland we got the congress, our supreme court, our 
written constitution, our local self-government, our com- 
mon school system, our freedom of the press, our land 
laws, with the system of registration of deeds and mort- 
gages, in fact almost everything else of value in our form 
of government. From Holland we got our flag also, 
with the red, white and blue expanded into thirteen 
stripes instead of three. It is true the republic of Hol- 
land has passed away, through the desire of Napoleon to 
found a kingdom for his brother, but the spirit of the 
republic remains undisturbed under the form of a consti- 
tutional monarchy, and liberty remains as of old. To any 
American, therefore, Holland is an interesting country, 
but to me it was doubly interesting for the reason that 
my ancestors three hundred years ago were natives of the 
province of Gelderland, and there, in Arnheim and 
Zutphen, I found kinsmen of my name. We spent time 
enough in Holland to take it in quite fully. Our first 
stop was at Arnheim and then at Zutphen, where my 
kinsman, Antony Frederick Brinkerhoff, resides. We 
were fourteen generations apart, but blood is thicker 
than water, and he gave us the freedom of the city and 
showed us everything worth seeing. Zutphen is off the 
line of tourist travel and is a fine specimen of an old 
Holland city. A city half as clean I have never seen in any 
other country, or a brighter or more intelligent people. 
There are many curious customs in Gelderland, and the 
wooden shoes of the working people are very queer, but 
then there was no poverty visible, and there was every- 
where an appearance of comfort and content. 

leaving Zutphen we came back to Arnheim and took 
the train for Amsterdam. leaving Arnheim we soon 
came to the lowlands rescued from the sea, which are 
as fertile as the valley of the Nile, and fine farming 
lands and broad pastures extended as far as the eye could 



380 RKCOUvKCTlONS OF A LIFETIME. 

reach. In our ride * of two and a half hours to Amster- 
dam through the very heart of Holland, there were canals 
and windmills everywhere in sight. The panorama of 
land and water unrolled before us was very strange and 
very attractive, for there is no other country like Hol- 
land, and its reclamation from the sea is one of the most 
stupendous achievements of man upon the earth. The 
largest part of Holland is below the level of the sea, the 
waters of which are kept out by enormous systems of 
dykes. In Amsterdam the houses are built upon piles, 
for there is no dry land anywhere to sustain them, and 
yet it is one of the wealthiest and most attractive cities 
in the world. From Amsterdam we went north by 
steamer through canals and lakes and the river Zaan to 
Alkamar (all sea) and thence to Zandpoort, Haarlem and 
L,eyden. L,eyden is the oldest of Dutch cities and, upon 
the whole, the most interesting of those we saw in Hol- 
land. It is one of the famous cities of the world on 
account of its heroic defense and deliverance from the 
Spaniards after a siege of nearly a year in duration in 

1574. 

One thing that surprised me in Holland, and especially 
in L,eyden, where there are practically no foreigners, and 
that was, that the Dutch look more like Americans than 
any other people we found in Europe, outside of Eng- 
land. They are not a distinct type like the Irish, Scotch, 
French and Germans, whom you recognize as such on 
sight, but they are a mixture of all nations like ourselves, 
and hence I take it they look like us; at any rate, that 
great audience at St. Peter's Church looked for all the 
world like a well-to-do congregation in New England or 
New York. They are not fleshy people as the cartoon- 
ists would have it, but as a rule are strong and spare, 
and I saw more people over six feet tall there than in 
any other country, and there were more handsome, 



IMPRESSIONS OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 38 1 

healthy looking women than I saw elsewhere. One 
would suppose that in a country like Holland, traversed 
in every direction by sluggish canals, and especially in 
L,eyden, where all the streets are canals, that the people 
would be eaten up by mosquitoes. On the contrary, I 
did not see a mosquito in all Holland, and very rarely a 
house-fly or other insect, and window-screens and mos- 
quito-bars are unknown. From I^eyden we came to The 
Hague, which is the capital of the Netherlands, and a 
city of nearly 200,000 inhabitants. Like Washington 
and the District of Columbia, it belongs to the general 
government, and it was here that our people got the 
idea of a District of Columbia and a city under federal 
control. 

To the American minister at The Hague, who was an 
old acquaintance, we were indebted for many courtesies. 
He took us through the old historic forest (where the 
recent Peace Congress was held) to Schevenengen on the 
ocean, which is the Saratoga of the Netherlands, and 
thence returning he took us to the museums, of which 
there are three. The most interesting, however, was the 
Royal Museum, with its famous pictures by Rembrant 
and Paul Potter. We were in all the great galleries of 
the countries where we traveled, and of course saw 
specimens of the work of all the great painters of the 
world, but to my mind Rembrant has no equal, and I 
doubt if he has ever had an equal on the earth. Un- 
like Paul Potter, his pre-eminence is not limited to one 
or two pictures, but his superiority is visible in all his 
works. At The Hague, of course, there are more Rem- 
brants than anywhere else, and nearly all of his greatest 
pictures are there, but there are many others scattered 
through the world; and everywhere they are stars, of the 
first magnitude. Even in America, there are several, 
three of which are in the art-gallery in Chicago. Leav- 



382 RKCOU<KCTlONS OF A UFKTIME. 

ing the Hague, of course we stopped off at Delft to 
visit the tomb of William the Silent, Admiral Tromp 
and Hugo Grotius, and to inspect its famous potteries; 
and then went on to Rotterdam, which has the best har- 
bor in the Netherlands, and is the seaport for the entire 
Rhine Valley. 

The Kingdom of Belgium is the most densely popu- 
lated country in Europe, having nearly 500 people to the 
square mile. It is only a little over one-third the size 
of Ohio, and yet its population is nearly 6,000,000. 
This, of course, makes the conditions of life very hard 
to the great majority of its people, who work twelve 
hours a day and live on black bread and vegetables for 
the most part, for meat is a great rarity and probably is 
not tasted once a month by the Belgian peasantry. Bel- 
gium is an interesting country, and we saw a good deal 
of it, stopping off at Antwerp, Ghent, L,ouvain, Brus- 
sels and Ostend, but its attractions to an American are 
not to be compared with Holland or Switzerland. What 
interested me more than anything else were its prisons, 
which, taking them as a whole, are the best planned and 
best administered of all the prisons of the world. I 
made a careful study of these prisons, and my observa- 
tions, together with observations upon other European 
prisons, as I have already stated, were published as an 
appendix to the official report of the American delega- 
tion to the International Prison Congress. 

From Ostend to Dover the distance is about sixty 
miles, and the most of the way the coast of Belgium or 
France is in sight. We left Ostend at 1 1 A. m. , August 
nth, and were glad to be in company with the people, 
who, for the most part, spoke the English language. 
Instead of the everlasting "wee, wee," and "yah, yah." 
which for six weeks we had heard in response to our in- 
quires, it was a solid satisfaction to hear the good, old- 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 383 

fashioned Anglo-Saxon "yes, sir." Unlike the placid 
sea we found in crossing from Dover to Calias, the chan- 
nel was in its normal condition of choppy seas and gusty 
rains, and many passengers were sick and miserable. 
However, I was happily exempt, and shielded by a 
mackintosh and a friendly awning, I kept the deck and 
watched the changing panorama of sea and land from a 
steamer chair, and enjoyed it immensely. In four hours 
we were alongside of the great stone pier of Dover, from 
which we had sailed in June, and under the battlements 
of England, with the Union Jack, with the Cross of St. 
George, floating proudly in the winds. Americans re- 
turning to England from the continent realize, as they 
never did before, how near we are together in all our 
ways and ideas, and so as we landed, I said to my travel- 
ing companion, "Thank God, we are once more in a 
Christian land where Magna Charta rules. ' ' We did not 
stop in Dover, but took the waiting train to Canterbury, 
sixteen miles to the north. Here we stopped over to 
visit the great cathedral. We saw nearly all the great 
cathedrals in the British Islands, and the most famous of 
those in western Europe, but to me Canterbury was the 
most interesting of them all. There are others in the 
British Islands, and on the continent, that excel it in cer- 
tain directions, and there are many more costly, but in 
its entirety, and its history, it impressed me more pro- 
foundly than any other. Here at Canterbury we had 
another example of courtesy to strangers, of which I have 
spoken elsewhere, as our frequent experience in the 
British Islands. It was Sunday, and after a five o'clock 
dinner, we went over to the cathedral which was near by, 
and wandered about it for an hour or so, and took in its 
magnificent proportions from different points of view, 
and then in the evening went to hear Bishop Eden, of 
Dover, preach from its pulpit. He is a famous orator, 



384 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

and we found the great audience of 2,000 people, but we 
could only hear the organ and singing. However, as we 
were standing on the outskirts of the choir, one of the 
church officials came along, and recognizing us as Amer- 
icans, he asked me if I would like to hear the sermon. 
Of course I answered in the affirmative, and he said he 
would see what he could do for me. He went away and 
returned presently and piloted me through the crowd to 
a chair which he had secured in some way, and seated 
me within twenty feet of the speaker, and I heard a de- 
lightful and instructive sermon upon "Summer Outings," 
from the text, "Come apart and rest awhile." 

Coming out at the close of the service, our new friend 
met me and made some inquiries as to our length of stay, 
and when I told him our stay was very limited, and we 
only stopped off to see the cathedral, and must leave be- 
fore noon, he said the doors would not be open for visit- 
ors until nine-thirty in the morning, and you will not 
have time to see the cathedral. However, he said, I may 
be able to aid you; wait and see. He soon returned and 
told me that he had arranged to have us admitted at 
eight o'clock, an hour and a half in advance of the regu- 
lar opening, and all we had to do was to call at the sec- 
ond house from the outer gateway, where the man in 
charge of the cathedral would meet us and act as our 
guide before the regular opening. This we did, and had 
a more satisfactory survey of Canterbury Cathedral than 
of any other in our travels. 

I have already named the various places we visited in 
south and west England, and no part of our journey was 
more enjoyable. At Ashford, twelve miles from Canter- 
bury, we stopped to visit a juvenile reformatory, where 
the boys, with a brass band, welcomed us with Hail 
Columbia and Yankee Doodle. At Brighton, the great- 
est of English seaside resorts, we stopped for a day. 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 385 

After dinner we spent an hour or two on the beach, 
watching the vast crowds, which in the summer are 
mostly excursionists from the country. To me, one of 
the most noticeable things was the similarity of the peo- 
ple to our ordinary American excursionists. Except for 
the English brogue in their speech, you would hardly 
know you were away from home, in a foreign land. At 
Portsmouth, of course, the principal attractions were its 
great harbor and naval equipments. The fortifications 
of the harbor, next to Gibraltar, are the strongest and 
most complete in the British empire. It is not only a 
great naval station, but also an important garrison for 
soldiers, and is one of the few places in England where 
the soldier is as conspicuous a factor of the population as 
in most continental towns. On the Isle of Wight we 
crossed from east to west, and spent a night at Freshwater 
Bay, near the home of Tennyson. In the morning we 
took a walk through the village, out to the poet's home, 
known as Farringford. We walked up the long lane and 
wandered about the grounds awhile, and then returned 
to the hotel and took the train to Newport, where we 
stopped to see the great convict prison, known as Park- 
hurst. Southampton is a city of over 60,000 inhabit- 
ants, and is one of the great seaports of England, and it 
is said that over 10,000 vessels enter it every year; but 
otherwise it is not a place of interest to tourists. At 
Salisbury we stopped to see the famous cathedral and 
the Blackmore Museum. The cathedral is considered 
one of the finest in the British Islands. The Blackmore 
Museum is noted for having the largest collection of 
American antiquities in all Europe, and the Smithsonian 
collection at Washington is the only one that surpasses 
it. It is the famous Squire & Davis collection, described 
in the first volume of the Smithsonian Reports, and 
which our government refused to purchase. Mr. Black- 



386 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

more, a wealthy Englishman, bought it for less than half 
it cost to gather it, and it is now in a fire-proof building 
in Salisbury, erected expressly for its reception. From 
Salisbury to Bristol we passed through Salisbury Plain, 
twenty miles long and fifteen miles broad, which has been 
a sheep pasture for ages. 

At Bristol we visited two pioneer reformatory schools, 
one for boys and one for girls, established by Mary Car- 
penter fifty years ago, and then went out four miles to 
visit the reformatory for boys established in recent years, 
located where John Wesley lived and preached. He 
established there a school for the training of Methodist 
preachers, and there he owned a house, and there he 
lived and there he did his work. The little chapel in 
which he preached is now used for a chapel by the re- 
formatory people, and in it they have morning and even- 
ing service. The quaint old pulpit is just as he left it. 
Under the pilotage of our consul, Mr. L,athorp, we vis- 
ited many places of interest in and about this ancient 
seaport, from which so many emigrants took their depart- 
ure, and among them the famous suspension bridge, 250 
feet above the surface of the water and 700 feet long; 
the cathedral, and Clifton Down. Clifton Down is a 
park of about 250 acres, and has been owned by the city 
for centuries, and is left almost entirely in its natural 
condition, outside the carriage drives. Its green turf is 
the finest and strongest I have ever seen. Horseback 
riders gallop over it in all directions, and make no more 
impression upon it than upon brick or asphalt. All over 
the British Islands the moist climate insures greener grass 
and stronger turf than anywhere in America; but Clif- 
ton Down is said to have no equal in the three kingdoms. 

From Bristol we went to the city of Gloucester, which 
occupies the site of a first century Roman town. Its 
principal attraction is its fine old cathedral, which has a 



IMPRESSIONS OF KUROPEAN TRAVEL. 387 

history dating back to the seventh century, and really 
is one of the most interesting in all England. What 
brought me to Gloucester more than anything else 
was the fact that it was near the home of my old friend 
Barwick Baker, with whom I had had a continuous cor- 
respondence for more than a dozen years before he died, 
and from whom I received more inspiration in prison re- 
form than from anyone else. In the cathedral is a fine 
memorial to his memory, for which a number of our 
American penologists contributed. 

The old ancestral home of Barwick Baker, known as 
Hardwicke Court, is about four miles from the city of 
Gloucester, and before leaving America I had received 
an invitation from his son and heir to spend a few days 
with him, and so on Saturday, August 17th, we rode out 
to the Court and remained until the 19th, and were glad 
to enjoy the hospitalities of an English magistrate in his 
country home. Unlike Americans the great men of 
England, and the rich men, all live in the country, and 
only spend a portion of their time in London, during the 
sessions of parliament, which is called the "season." 
These country homes are the old estates that, as a rule, 
have been in the family for centuries and descend under 
the law of entail to the eldest son, and, of course, they 
are full of history and are very interesting. Hardwicke 
Court is a large estate and upon it is a village, and 
homes of the tenantry, and a church, and a parish 
school. Here in a fine old mansion and a broad park 
surrounded with a growth of great trees of oaks and 
elms, Mr. Granville Baker resides with his charming 
family of seven children, and a more delightful home life 
I have not seen anywhere. On Sunday we attended 
services in the quaint old parish church, a mile and a half 
across the fields, and then in the afternoon visited a famous 
reformatory for boys. It is famous from the fact that it 



388 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME). 

was the first reformatory in England, and was established 
by Barwick Baker in 1851, upon his own estate, and was 
wholly supported by him. He was assisted by a friend, 
who acted as a voluntary superintendent, and they started 
with three young thieves from London. Their success 
was phenominal, so that by 1855 there was scarcely a 
regular habitual thief in the county of Gloucestershire, 
and from the inspiration of their success the juvenile 
reformatory system went all over the British Islands, 
and over America also. The days we spent at Hard- 
wicke Court were very delightful, and we would have 
been glad to have made a longer stay, but we were due in 
Liverpool to take the steamer on the 24th, and so we bid 
good-bye to our Hardwicke friends, and under the pilot- 
age of Michael, the oldest son, we went to the city. 

During the day we visited penal and benevolent insti- 
stutions, among which was a hospital for the insane, 
most admirably conducted, and then in the evening we 
took the train for Birmingham. 

Through the courtesy of our American consul, Mr. 
Parker, we saw a good deal of Birmingham in a short 
time. With a population of half a million it is, next 
to Manchester, the most important manufacturing city 
in England. It is mainly a modern city, and is the out- 
growth of industrial conditions which have come into 
existence during the present century, and there are no 
antiquities to attract the tourist. In its social and polit- 
ical sphere, however, it has always been distinguished as 
a center of liberality and freedom of thought, and it is 
one of the best governed cities in the world. Politics 
are entirely ignored in municipal affairs, and the best 
business men of the city are selected for official stations, 
and they give their time gratuitously to the work from 
the mayor down to the police force. Of course police- 
men and clerks are paid, but nobody else, not even the 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 389 

judges. Social distinction in Birmingham comes through 
service to the city, and not from accident of birth, and 
lords and ladies do not count unless they do something 
for the public good. Mr. Parker, our consul, has given 
careful study to the subject and written it up, and says 
that it is the most democratic city in the world. Bir- 
mingham in England, and Glasgow in Scotland, are 
models for the world in municipal government. 

The birthplace of Shakespeare was twenty-five or 
thirty miles from Birmingham to the northeast, and is 
the Mecca of tourists, and, of course, we made a special 
trip to take it in, and there we spent a day, and saw 
what other people see, and what has been described thou- 
sands of times. One of the facts that impressed me in 
visiting Stratford-on-Avon (pronounced A-von, not 
Av-on) was the uncertainty of the personality of the 
man Shakespeare. He was the greatest light in English 
literature, and yet, after the lapse of three hundred 
years, how little we know about him! In recent years it 
has been hotly denied that the plays of Shakespeare were 
ever written by a man of that name, and it is claimed 
that I^ord Bacon was their author. Even his name is 
mythical, and there are thirty different ways of spelling 
the name "Shakespeare," gathered from different edi- 
tions of his works. 

On the way to Iyiverpool we stopped over at Chester 
for a night. It is a very ancient city, and is surrounded 
by an old wall, built originally by the Romans, and upon 
the top of it is a fine promenade over two miles long, and 
on it we made the circuit of the city. We also took a 
look at the cathedral, which is an old one, and dates 
back for its origin to the Roman period. It is not as 
large as other cathedrals we saw in England, but it is 
very interesting. Six miles from Chester is Hawarden, 



390 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the residence for many years of Mr. Gladstone, the 
greatest man of the century in England. 

Liverpool, next to I/mdon, is the largest city in En- 
land, and is its greatest seaport. It is a modern city, 
and to the tourist has but very few attractions, and 
Americans, except commercial travelers, scarcely stop 
there even for a day. Of course, we called upon our 
consul, Hon. James E. McNeal, who was an Ohio man 
and an old friend. He invited us to make the consulate 
our headquarters, which we did, and under his direction 
and pilotage we saw considerable of Liverpool during 
the two days we had at command before sailing home. 
We took in several benevolent and reformatory institu- 
tions, and among them the training ship Akbar, the In- 
dustrial Home for the Blind, and a school for the educa- 
tion of the blind, all of which we found very creditable. 
The morning of August 24th we occupied in getting our 
baggage on ship board, and then, after lunch with our 
consul, and bidding him good-by, we went on board the 
ship, and were happy in the prospect of a solid week's 
rest on the ocean homeward bound. 

The Liverpool docks are the finest in the world, and 
for miles and miles they constitute a solid wall of granite. 
At 3 p. m. the gang plank was hauled in, and the great 
ship swung out into the stream and threaded her way 
down the Mersey into the Irish Sea, and took her course 
for Queenstown and the western world. For hours the 
steamer was in sight of land, and we sat upon the deck 
and watched the changing landscape, but at last the ship 
turned more to the westward and the shores of Albion 
faded out of sight, and we were once more upon the 
boundless sea, "with the blue above and the blue be- 
low." The steamer Umbria, of the Cunard line, was 
not as large or fine as the Campania, but ranked next to 
her, and was a good sea-going vessel. Our experiences 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 39 1 

at sea were the usual incidents of ocean travel, except 
for three days, when in mid-ocean, we met stormy 
weather, and a passenger who had crossed the ocean at 
all seasons, and in every month of the year, said it was 
the roughest time he had ever seen. We had seen a 
live avalanche in Switzerland, and now we had a live 
storm at sea. I had read of mountainous waves, with 
no faith in their reality, but now, as I looked out of our 
stateroom window, it was actually verified, and for all 
the world the outlook resembled some sections of the 
Swiss mountains, and there were hundreds of peaks in 
sight that were snow-capped. Really, the sea just then 
was more impressive than the mountains. It was mag- 
nificent, and I enjoyed it immensely. During the days 
of storm, with every plunge of the ship, the decks were 
under water, and no one dared to venture outside, and so 
I stayed in my state-room, and saw all that could be 
seen through the port-hole window, and spent the time 
in writing up my annual address for the Denver Prison 
Congress, and finished it before we landed. Notwith- 
standing the rough weather, we made fairly good time, 
and in seven days and three and a half hours we were at 
the Cunard dock in New York. It was hot when we left 
New York, and hot when we returned, but, nevertheless, 
we were glad to be at home again, under the "Star 
Spangled Banner," in the land of the free and the home 
of the brave. 

The National Prison Congress for 1895 was held in 
Denver, Colorado, September 14th to 20th, and was a 
very interesting and profitable session. In my annual 
address I gave an account of my observations upon Eu- 
ropean prisons, with the conclusions as to comparative 
results, which is contained in the annual report of the 
congress for 1895. 

The Sunday morning session of the congress was held 



392 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

in the Central Presbyterian Church, and the annual ser- 
mon was delivered by Rev. Wm. F. Slocum, D.D., the 
president of Colorado College, at Colorada Springs. He 
took for his theme, ' 'The Elements of Justice in Char- 
ity," and founded his discussion on Romans, 13:10 — 
"Love is the fulfilling of the law " — which was ably pre- 
sented. The Sunday evening session was arranged for 
and conducted by the Chaplains' Association in the Cen- 
tral Presbyterian Church, and addresses were made by 
Chaplain Batt, of the Massachusetts State Reformatory, 
and Rev. H. H. Hart, secretary Minnesota Board of State 
Charities. The succeeding sessions of the congress were 
continued for three days, closing Wednesday night. 
Among the papers presented the most noteworthy per- 
haps were "The Parol System in Penitentiaries," by 
Warden Henry Wolfer, of Minnesota; "Intermediate 
Sentences," by Warren F. Spalding, Secretary Massa- 
chusetts Prison Association; "Politics and Crime," by 
Amos G. Warner, Professor of Economics and Social 
Science in Iceland Stanford University, California; "Prison 
Discipline," by Warden Chamberlain, of Michigan; "Dis- 
charged Convicts in England and Europe, ' ' by Samuel 
J. Barrows, of Massachusetts; "The Ethical Aspects of 
Crime," by Rev. J. H. Crooker, of Montana; "Pure 
Water as a Hygeinic Factor in Prisons," by D. N. Ran- 
kin, of Pennsylvania; "Police Force in Cities," by Chief 
Deitsch, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Denver is not only one of 
the most attractive cities in America, but its ability to en- 
tertain conventions is unsurpassed, and its welcome to 
the prison congress will always be remembered with plea- 
ure by its delegates. 

The legislature of 1 895- 96 enacted into laws two bills, 
prepared by the Board of State Charities, and recom- 
mended annually for a number of years. The first was 
the interchange of commodities bill (92 Ohio Laws, 



IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL. 393 

page 183). and the second was the bill repealing section 
975 of the Revised Statutes (92 Ohio L,aws, page 170), 
the results of which are far-reaching in their effects, for 
it takes away from infirmary directors the administration 
of out-door relief as a county charge, and transfers the 
responsibility of such relief to township trustees, to be 
paid by township taxation. 

The National Conference for Charities and Correction 
for 1896 was held June 4th to 10th, at Grand Rapids, 
Michigan, and was even larger than that at New Haven, 
in 1895. I was unable to be present during the first 
three days of the conference, but for the remainder of the 
time I attended all general sessions. The large attend- 
ance was a very gratifying indication of an advancing 
public sentiment in regard to all matters considered by 
the conference. The National Prison Congress was held 
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, commencing on the evening 
of the 26th of September, and closing on the evening of 
the 30th. It was very successful, both in numbers and 
in the weight of its deliverances, and the general con- 
sensus of opinion seemed to be that it was the best that 
we had ever had. I was selected president for the fourth 
time, but a change of policy for the future was inaugu- 
rated, by the adoption of a rule that hereafter, a presi- 
dent shall not be eligible for a second term. This has 
always been the rule in the National Congress of Chari- 
ties and Correction, and after the death of General 
Hayes, and our inability to secure the services of another 
ex-president of the United States, it has been the best 
policy for the prison association. Where a president has 
but one term to serve, he will do his best to make his 
congress superior to those of his predecessor. A presi- 
dent who does his duty in organizing a congress, and in 
presiding over its deliberations, has onerous duties to 
perform, and after five years of its responsibilities, I was 



394 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

very glad to retire from that position. I value very 
highly the honor conferred upon me by my associates, 
but there are many others of equal or greater ability, and 
they ought to be recognized, in doing so I believe the 
best interests of the congress will be promoted. 

In going to the prison congress, I spent several days 
in Chicago, and visited various local institutions, and 
among them the Cook County Insane Asylum and the 
county jail. Also, for the first time, Hull House and 
another social settlement. Returning, I stopped over, 
with several other delegates, and participated in a public 
meeting for the discussion of prison topics. 

The Ohio State Conference for 1896 was held at 
Xenia, October 12th to 15th, which was very largely at- 
tended by delegates from all parts of the state. I was 
very proud of it, for in its papers and discussions, it was 
fairly the equal of our national conferences. 



EVENTS OF 1897. 395 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Events of 1897. 

New Orleans Conference— River trip to New Orleans — The Confer- 
ence — Prison reform in Louisiana — Homeward bound — Na- 
tional Conference at Toronto — New York institutions — State 
Conference for 1897 — After the conference — National Prison 
Congress — Sessions of the Congress — Trip to Mexico — San An- 
tonio — Laredo — Monterey — In the torrid zone — City of Mexico 
— Mexican officials — President Diaz. 

As there was no session of the general assembly for 
1897, there is no legislation to record for that year. In 
other directions, however, in philanthropic work, in 
which I was participant, there was more than usual ac- 
tivity. 

At the National Conference of Charities and Correc- 
tion, at Grand Rapids, Michigan, in June, 1896, it was 
determined to hold an adjourned session in New Orleans, 
Louisiana, in March, 1897. A large number of the 
delegates had desired to hold the regular conference at 
New Orleans in preference to Toronto, believing it the 
more inviting place for conference influences, and there- 
fore, to meet the Macedonian cry of the Louisiana dele- 
gation to "come over and help us," it was decided to 
hold an adjourned session in that city. The wisdom of 
this movement was vindicated by its results, for the 
visible outcome has been greater, probably, than that 
from any previous conference. Within a year, a Board 
of State Charities and Corrections was made a permanent 
requirement by the constitutional convention of Louisi- 
ana; also the appointment of a code commission by the 



396 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

legislature for the revision and codification of the crim- 
inal laws; also a constitutional provision for the abolition 
of the lease system; the organization of a prison associa- 
tion for the state; and a local commission for the visita- 
tion and inspection of all the charities of New Orleans. 
Through the inspiration of our adjourned meeting, five 
free kindergartens have been established in New Orleans, 
and in various other directions progress has been reported. 
At this conference, there were nearly one hundred dele- 
gates, representing seventeen states, and of these dele- 
gates fifteen were from Ohio. 

A majority of our Ohio delegation concluded to make 
the trip to New Orleans by river, and so we took the 
passenger steamer "John K. Speed," at Cincinnati, in 
the evening of February 18th. The river was full and 
rapid and the weather was moderate, so that we could be 
outside the most of the way, which made the journey 
very interesting and pleasant. We stopped at all the 
principal cities to put off and take on freight, and had 
ample opportunity to take in the various attractions of 
the river. At Cairo, we were detained half a day, and 
at Vicksburg we visited the National Cemetery, and at 
various other points there was ample opportunity for 
sight-seeing. We reached New Orleans on the evening 
of February 26th, nearly two days ahead of time, so 
that we had opportunity to locate and look around before 
the Mardi Gras orgies, which began March 1st. The 
carnival, with its spectacular foolishness, did not impress 
me favorably, but the people of the city and the thou- 
sands of visitors seemed to enjoy it immensely, and so 
long as they were happy, it was not my business to 
find fault. Personally, however, I do not care to see it 
again. 

The conference began on the morning of Thursday, 
March 4th, and continued until the evening of March 



EVENTS OF 1897. 397 

6th, with three sessions a day, which made hard work, 
but afforded opportunity for a very full presentation of 
the various phases of philanthropic work. The two 
leading daily papers of the city published the proceed- 
ings more fully than has been done for the conference in 
any other city. In fact, every paper presented was pub- 
lished in full, together with a complete abstract of the 
discussions, so that the conference had an audience all 
over Louisiana and the adjoining states. The addresses 
upon Charity Organization, by Robert Treat Paine, of 
Boston, and President Gilman, of John Hopkins Uni- 
versity, were especially strong, and that upon Kinder- 
gartens, by Mrs. L. W. Treat, of Michigan, I have never 
heard equaled anywhere. As there were no section 
meetings, and only such topics were presented as were 
desired by the local committee, more opportunity was 
allowed for discussion, and each topic was very fully con- 
sidered, and the result was a conference which was in all 
respects very satisfactory and very useful. 

My own contribution to the conference, outside of dis- 
cussions, was a paper entitled "Prison Reform in Louisi- 
ana," which was a presentation of the ideas of Edward 
Livingston as embodied in his criminal code, with its 
marvelous introduction, prepared for the legislature of 
Louisiana over seventy years ago. It was not adopted, 
but it contained the principles upon which all prison re- 
form legislation has since been formulated in all civilized 
countries. My paper was prepared on the steamer on my 
way down the river, and has received probably wider cir- 
culation than any other I have ever written. It has been 
translated into French by the executive committee of the 
International Prison Congress and transmitted to its 
members throughout the world. By using Livingston as 
my authority, I was able to advocate the most advanced 
ideas of prison reform without giving offense to a 



398 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Louisiana audience, whilst pointing out various local 
shortcomings. 

The conference closed Saturday, March 6th, and I 
took the night train to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and spent 
the Sabbath at the State Hospital for Insane with Super- 
intendent Searcy, the successor of my old friend, Dr. 
Brice. On Monday, I came on to Nashville, Tennessee, 
and spent two days with old friends and visited various 
local institutions; also, by invitation of State Board of 
Charities, I spent an hour with Governor Taylor and the 
finance committee of the house, to discuss matters of 
pending legislation. I left Nashville on the evening of 
March nth and arrived home safely March 12th. 

The twenty-fourth National Conference of Charities 
and Correction was held at Toronto, Canada, July 7th to 
14th. To attend this conference, I left home July 6th 
and took the evening boat for Buffalo, and thence by 
Iyewiston and L,ake Ontario to Toronto. This was the 
first time the conference had met outside of the United 
States, but it found a hospitable welcome and was largely 
attended. I had been there ten years before, at the 
National Prison Congress, and had met at different times 
quite a number of Canadian philanthropists, and was 
glad to meet them again. Toronto is a beautiful city 
and one of the best governed on the continent, and our 
sojourn for a week was very delightful. A large num- 
ber of papers were presented that were able and instruct- 
ive, but there were too many of them to allow the dis- 
cussion and criticism that every paper ought to receive. 
The main value of a conference is in securing an inter- 
change of opinions upon a given topic, and failure in this 
respect was a serious defect in the Toronto conference 
and ought not to be repeated. At the Toronto confer- 
ence, there were half a dozen section meetings, some of 
which were in session, more or less, during the general 



KVENTS OF 1897. 399 

sessions, which was also a mistake and ought not to be 
allowed at any time. My own opinion is, that the ad- 
journed meeting in New Orleans, where there were no 
section meetings, and where ample opportunity was al- 
lowed for discussion, was of more practical value than 
the conference at Toronto, although the topics consid- 
ered were far less in number. 

Iyeaving Toronto in the afternoon of July 14th, I re- 
turned to Buffalo, and then spent two weeks visiting in- 
stitutions in the State of New York, and made report of 
observations, which was published in full in our Septem- 
ber bulletin. These institutions in their order were, the 
Hospital for Insane at Utica, the Penitentiary and Pro- 
testant Orphan Home at Albany, the State Hospital for 
Insane at Poughkeepsie, the Temporary Home for Desti- 
tute Children and the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum in 
West Chester county, the Asylum for the Criminal In- 
sane at Mattewan, and the King's County Penitentiary 
and various other institutions in Brooklyn. The trip 
was very interesting and enjoyable, and I found many 
things worthy of commendation; but upon the whole, 
our Ohio institutions did not suffer by comparison, and 
in some respects we are decidedly in advance. 

The State Conference of Charities and Correction for 
1897 was held in Toledo, October 26-28, and was attended 
by about two hundred delegates from the various counties 
of the state, and many able papers were presented, and 
the discussions were valuable. Two of the papers were 
exceptionally good: the first by L,ewis B. Gunkel, of 
Dayton, upon ' 'Outdoor Relief," and the other by Dr. 
G. A. Dorem, of Columbus, upon the "Custodial Care of 
Icliots." The latter was monumental in its excellence, 
and contained the conclusions of forty years' experience 
in dealing with this class of dependents. Dr. Dorem' s 
paper was printed separately in a pamphlet and was cir- 



400 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

culated widely, and was very helpful to our board in 
securing from the next legislature an appropriation for 
the purchase of a farm for the custodial care of idiots. 
At this conference a committee was appointed to prepare 
a bill for the codification of the poor laws of the state, 
of which the secretary of the board was chairman and 
Judge Follett was a member, and the result was the 
formulation of a bill which was enacted into a law by the 
next legislature exactly as reported. 

At the close of the conference, October 29, I went to 
Cincinnati, and the next day visited the county jail, 
house of refuge, and the workhouse. On Sunday, the 
31st, I delivered an address to a large audience at the Y. 
M. C. A. Hall upon the prison question, and the next 
morning at the Presbyterian church I talked upon the 
same subject, for an hour, to the ministers of the Evan- 
gelical Alliance. Both of these addresses were reported 
in the daily papers, so that I had a wide hearing in Cin- 
cinnati and throughout the state. 

The National Prison Congress for 1897 convened in 
Austin, Texas, December 2, and continued until the 
evening of the 6th. For a large majority of delegates 
it was a long distance to travel, but the number in at- 
tendance was well up to the average, and the congress 
itself was one of the ablest we have ever held. From 
Ohio we had seventeen delegates, and of these fourteen 
of us went together in a special car from Columbus, 
leaving that city at 3 p. m., November 29, and arriving 
at St. I/mis the next morning, where we spent the day. 
At St. Iyouis we were hospitably entertained by the city 
officials, and visited various points of interest, and es- 
pecially the jail and workhouse, and in the evening we 
left for the South on the Iron Mountain Railroad. In 
the morning of December 1st, we were as Malvern, in 
the State of Arkansas, where we detached our car, and 



EVENTS OF 1897. 40I 

went west on a local railroad twenty-two miles to spend 
the day at the Hot Springs. We found this famous 
watering place well worth a visit and spent the day 
very pleasantly. In the evening we went back to 
Malvern and took the night train on the Iron Mountain 
Railroad, and at 2 p. m. of the next day we were at 
Austin. 

The opening session of the congress was held in the 
First Presbyterian Church, and was welcomed by Charles 
A. Culbertson, governor of the state, and L,ewis Han- 
cock, mayor of the city. To their welcome I made re- 
sponse, and then read my annual address. I had now 
been with the congress for fourteen years, first as vice- 
president for ten years, and as president for four years, 
and having reached within a few months the allotted age 
of three score and ten, it seemed fitting that with this 
congress I should cease to be officially responsible for it, 
and therefore my address was in the form of a valedictory, 
in which I summed up the results of progress in the past 
and closed with prophecies of the future. Outside of 
our annual report it was published in full in several daily 
newspapers both North and South, and was quoted 
largely elsewhere, and especially in the religious week- 
lies. The papers and discussions of the congress were 
unusually able, and some of its deliverances were of 
monumental excellence. The local attendance was very 
good, and at the meeting on Sunday evening in the Col- 
lege Auditorium the audience numbered about 2,000, 
which has never been exceeded before or since. At this 
meeting two very able papers were presented; one upon 
"The Prevention of Crime," by Geo. G. Winston, presi- 
dent of the university, and the other upon "The I^ease 
System in Texas," by Hon. John N. Henderson, judge 
of the court of criminal appeals, and these, together with 
26 



402 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

the very able sermon of the morning by Reverend J. R. 
Briggs, pastor of the Tenth Street Methodist Church, 
made the Sabbath one of the most memorable in the 
history of the prison congress. 

The congress closed on the evening of December 6th, 
and on the morning of the 7th an excursion of twenty- 
five delegates left at 4:20 A. m. on special Pullmans for 
San Antonio and the Republic of Mexico. As I have 
already written of this trip in a series of fifteen letters, 
published weekly in the "Mansfield Shield," and which, 
if printed in a volume, would make a book of two hun- 
dred pages or more, I do not care to refer to it here ex- 
cept in brief outline. 

At San Antonio, eighty miles southwest of Austin, 
we spent the day and night, and left for Laredo on the 
morning of the 8th. San Antonio is a city of 60,000 in- 
habitants, and we found the people very hospitable and 
the place attractive. Its public buildings and its cathe- 
dral and old mission buildings were very interesting, 
and especially the Alamo church and plaza, where in 
1836 occurred the bloody assault of Santa Ana and the 
massacre of the Texan patriots. 

The next day, late in the afternoon, after an all -day 
ride through southern Texas, we reached the Rio Grande 
and crossed over into Mexico. I have been in many 
strange countries; but I think the transition from one 
side of the Rio Grande to the other is the most extreme 
in its civilization I have ever experienced. On one side 
is a live, rattling, up-to-date, English-speaking town. 
On the other is a quit, sleepy place, with quaint Spanish 
architecture of the middle ages, flat-roofed adobe houses, 
and narrow streets, through which the bronzed- visaged 
inhabitants come and go as leisurely as if all days were 
Sundays, and no one ever was in a hurry. The first 
Mexican official to make our acquaintance was a custom- 



KVKNTS OF 1897. 4°3 

house officer, who came through the cars and looked into 
our hand-sachels for contraband goods. This perfunc- 
tory duty completed, the train pulled out slowly through 
a throng of swarthy-looking natives, wrapped in rainbow- 
colored blankets, under tall sugar-loaf hats, with brims 
as broad as an umbrella. Mexicans of all grades, from 
the Castilian Spaniard to the lowest Indian, are dark- 
complexioned, but they are never black, and their race 
characteristics are entirely different from the negro. 
Leaving Laredo, we rolled out into the chapparal and 
cactus-covered plains, and onward and steadily upward 
through the night, and in the morning we found our- 
selves in the old historic city of Monterey. 

We found Monterey a very attractive and prosperous 
city, with a superb climate in winter, with cloudless 
skies and a temperature like the early June days in 
Ohio. It dates back for its origin to 1560, and is full of 
history. Here we spent the entire day and evening, and 
under the pilotage of American residents we visited all 
the important points in and about the city, and in the 
evening were taken to the leading club-house and shown 
its attractions. 

We left Monterey at 1 1 p. m. , and the next day, Fri- 
day, December 10th, all day long we were in the torrid 
zone, on the high tablelands and through mountain val- 
leys of marvelous beauty, and meeting everywhere, both 
in city and country, scenes entirely new to American 
eyes. During the night we were high up among the 
mountains, and early Saturday morning we were at La 
Cima, where the descent of the eastern slope begins, and 
the glorious beauty of the valley of Mexico commences 
to unfold. Through gaps in the mountains you catch 
fleeting views in the panorama, until it bursts like a 
vision full upon the sight; the glittering towers and 
domes of the City of Mexico in the middle distance; a 



404 RKCOU.ECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

little farther to the left, the broad expanse of the waters 
of the lakes gleaming in the sunlight like burnished sil- 
ver; and beyond, far away in the distance, are the two 
great mountains of Iztaccihuati and Popocatepetl. The 
first is known as the "L,ady in White," and both are 
covered with eternal snow. At noon we were in the 
City of Mexico. 

No other city I have ever visited, in America or Eu- 
rope, begins to equal the attractions of the City of Mex- 
ico, and the days we spent there I shall always remem- 
ber with the greatest pleasure. Through the courtesy of 
Mexican officials, from President Diaz down, and the daily 
pilotage of American residents, every opportunity was 
afforded to see the attractions of the city under the most 
favorable conditions, and we availed ourselves of our ad- 
vantages as far as our time would permit, and there were 
no hours wasted. 

Among the officials we met, most notable were Raphael 
Rebollar, governor of the federal district, and Porfirio Diaz, 
president of the republic. The governor received us at 
the city hall (Palacio Municipal), and treated us with 
distinguished consideration. After shaking hands all 
around, we had quite a lengtlty conversation with him 
through an interpreter, mainly upon prison topics, about 
which he seemsd much interested. He looks like a 
Frenchman more than a Mexican, and is very intelligent, 
and our party were well pleased with him. At the close of 
the reception, he presented me, as president of the prison 
congress, a large and handsomely-bound photograph- 
album with photos of President Diaz, the governor and 
ex-governor of the federal district, and of the peniten- 
tiary commission, comprising eleven members. These 
were followed by a dozen or more full-page photos of the 
new penitentiary, both exterior and interior. Of course 
I made my best acknowledgments, and shall retain the al- 



KVKNTS OF 1897. 4°5 

bum as a valuable memorial of Mexican experiences. 
After the reception was over, the president and several 
of his officers escorted us through the federal building, 
and showed us its various halls and offices and explained 
their uses. In one room was a large number of portraits 
of various officials. 

The last day of our sojourn in the City of Mexico, we 
spent the morning in making farewell calls upon our 
American ambassador, Honorable John M. Clayton, and 
our consul-general, Honorable Andrew D. Barlow, and 
then proceeded to the plaza to attend a reception ar- 
ranged for us at one p. m. at the national palace by Presi- 
dent Diaz. Promptly on time the president, with some 
of the members of his staff, came in and we were intro- 
duced to him. President Diaz, when we met him, was 
in his sixty-eighth year, but he did not look over sixty. 
He is five feet eight inches tall, and weighs perhaps one 
hundred and seventy- five pounds, and looked as vigor- 
ous as an athlete. His hair and moustache were gray, 
and complexion bronzed like a sea-captain, and was the 
picture of health. He was very cordial and kind, and 
shook hands with each of our party, as I introduced 
them separately. One of his staff acted as interpreter in 
faultless English. He made various inquiries, and 
among them our opinions of the new penitentiary. I 
said to him that I was very much pleased with it, and 
could assure him, after visiting a great many prisons both 
in America and Europe, that if the new prison was admin- 
istered fully in accordance with the requirements of its 
construction, it would be a model for the American con- 
tinent. He seemed pleased, and said that after all there 
was some advantage in being behind in prison reforms, 
as it had given an opportunity to adopt all the modern 
improvements. After a talk of twenty minutes, in which 
several of our party participated, we said good-by, and 



406 RECOLLECTIONS OF A UFKTIME. 

left, fully satisfied that President Diaz was the right man 
in the right place. In the evening we parted with our 
Mexican friends at the hotel, and took carriages to the 
station, and thence, at nine p. m., our Pullmans rolled 
out on their way northward, and after a four days' con- 
tinuous ride we were safely home again. 



EVENTS OF 1898-99. 407 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Events of 1898-99. 

Care of adult idiots— Plans of new jails — The Spanish War — Insti- 
tutions visited — Ohio State Conference — National Prison Con- 
gress — New Orleans Congress — Twenty-sixth National Confer- 
ence of Charities and Correction — Results of philanthropic 
work — Care of epileptics — Custodial care of adult idiots — The 
dependent poor — Dependent children — Defective children — 
Juvenile delinquents — Adult criminals — Improved administra- 
tion. 

At the biennial session of the general assembly of 
Ohio for 1898, through the initiation of the Board of 
State Charities, a number of legislative enactments were 
secured. The most important of these was the codifica- 
tion of the poor laws and an act entitled ' 'an act to pro- 
vide for the custodial care of the feeble minded. ' ' For 
nearly a century, the poor laws of the state, almost every 
year, had been added to or taken from, and amended and 
reamended, until their interpretation was often difficult 
and confusing; and, therefore, their codification, in a bill 
formulated by the Board of State Charities in co-opera- 
tion with a committee of the State Conference of 
Charities, was a very satisfactory conclusion of study 
and effort. 

The care of adult idiots for many years had been urged 
upon the state by the Board of State Charities, and 
recommended to legislators as a requirement of the ut- 
most importance, and, therefore, the passage of an act 
authorizing an institution for this purpose, and making 
an appropriation to purchase a thousand acres of land in 



408 RKCOIJ^CTIONS OF A UFKTIME. 

the neighborhood of Columbus, was welcomed by the 
board as an accomplishment of the highest value. I be- 
came interested in this phase of philanthropic work over 
twenty years ago, when, in 1878, visiting the institution 
for feeble minded youth at Syracuse, New York, I heard, 
for the first time, of the institution for the care of feeble 
minded women at Newark, New York, and I became so 
impressed with its importance, that I have written it up, 
and talked it up, more frequently, perhaps, than any 
other man in the state, and if I have been instrumental, 
even in a small degree, in securing, the permanent care of 
adult idiots by the state, I will be happy. 

Among the laws enacted by the legislature in 1898, in 
which our board was interested, was the act of April 
1 2th, requiring the approval by the board of all plans 
for new jails, workhouses, children's homes, infirmaries, 
state institutions, and municipal lockups or prisons, and 
for important additions to or alterations in such institu- 
tions before their adoption by the proper officials. There 
were other acts of value in which the board was inter- 
ested, but those referred to above were the most important. 

The twenty-fifth session of the National Conference of 
Charities and Corrections was held in New York City, 
May i8-25th, and in point of numbers was larger than 
any of its predecessors. Nearly one thousand names 
were registered as in attendance, representing thirty 
states of the Union and Dominion of Canada. From 
Ohio we had twenty-eight delegates, which was a larger 
number than any other state outside of New York, ex- 
cept Massachusetts, which had twenty-nine. At the 
opening of the conference, Carnegie Hall, one of the 
largest in the city, was filled to its utmost capacity, and 
addresses of welcome were made by Honorable Joseph 
H. Choate, Ex-Mayor Strong, Archbishop Corrigan, 
Right Reverend Henry C. Potter, D.D., and President 



KVKNTS OF 1898-99. 409 

Iyow, of Columbia College, and during the entire confer- 
ence the hospitalities of New York were attractive and 
continuous. The subsequent sessions of the conference 
were held, morning and evening, in The Charities Build- 
ing, corner of Fourth avenue and Twenty-second street, 
and the afternoons were free to delegates for the visita- 
tion of local institutions, under the pilotage of members 
of the local committee of arrangements. The papers and 
discussions of the conference were able and valuable, and 
the volume of proceedings in which they were published 
is a very important contribution to philanthropic litera- 
ture. 

At this conference, twelve of our ex-presidents were 
present, a larger number than ever before, and President 
Stewart gathered us together for a photographic group, 
which, by photogravure plate, was transferred to the an- 
nual report. Of these ex-presidents, my old friend and 
comrade in philanthropic work, Doctor Charles S. Hoyt, 
has since passed away. He died in harness as he desired, 
and the conference has lost one of its ablest and most 
faithful members. 

Whilst the conference was in session, the Spanish war 
was in progress, and absorbed the attention of the public 
to a large extent. All the great newspapers had dispatch 
boats and special correspondents in Cuban waters, and 
the New York journals, morning and evening, and be- 
tween times, in special editions, with scare headlines, 
were in evidence at every street crossing, and, of course, 
such peaceful proceedings as those of the National Con- 
ference did not receive much attention from the reporters, 
and, for the same reason, doubtless, the local attendance 
was somewhat curtailed. However, the conference was 
a great success, and our New York friends were fully en- 
titled to the commendations we gave them at the closing 
session. 



4IO RECOLLECTIONS OF LIFETIME. 

During the summer and autumn, our board, as usual, 
through its standing committees, visited the various state 
institutions. In June, we were at the Central Hospital 
for Insane, at Columbus, and the Institution for the Im- 
becile Youth. On the 4th of July, we attended the cel- 
ebration of the Toledo State Hospital, where I was one 
of the speakers, and where the triumph of modern 
methods in dealing with the insane was illustrated by the 
presence and participation of more than three- fourths of 
the patients, and in all the exercises, without the slight- 
est disturbance of any kind. In the morning there was 
a parade, with music and banners, followed by foot- 
races and base ball games, and in the afternoon we had 
in the grove an old-fashioned patriotic program, com- 
mencing with the reading of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and followed by orations, recitations and music. 
L,ater in the day there were balloon ascensions, and in 
the evening fire- works galore, and a dance in the amuse- 
ment hall. Twenty years ago such proceedings were not 
only unknown, but were not even dreamed of. In Au- 
gust, we visited the various institutions in the Cleveland 
district, comprising the city infirmary and hospital, the 
workhouse and the Protestant and Jewish orphan asy- 
lums, the state hospitals at Newbergh and Massillon, and 
the workhouse at Canton, and the results of our inspec- 
tions were published in full in our quarterly bulletin. In 
September, we made inspections of institutions in the 
Athens district, including the state hospital at Athens, 
the Industrial School for Boys at I^ancaster, and the 
Hospital for Epileptics at Gallipolis. 

In September, I attended the Trans- Mississippi Con- 
ference of Charities and Correction at Omaha, com- 
mencing on the 15th and continuing to the 20th. On the 
way out I stopped over for a day at Chicago, and visited 
the new county jail. The sessions of the conference 



EVENTS OF 1898-99. 4II 

were held in the Congregational Church and the papers 
and discussions were able and valuable. On account of 
the attractions of the great exposition, and the large 
number of other conferences, the local attendance was 
not large, but those who came were specially interested 
in philanthropic work, and, doubtless, were largely ben- 
efited. On Sunday and Sunday evening, delegates were 
given a hearing in a number of city churches, and in that 
way we were able to reach large audiences. My own 
address upon "The Prison Question," in St. Mary's Ave- 
nue Congregational Church, was published in full next 
morning in the local papers, with editorial comments, and 
I have heard that much good came out of it later, in the 
improvement of city and county prisons. 

The Ohio State Conference (the eighth) for 1898 was 
held in Mansfield, commencing on the nth of October, 
and continuing until the evening of the 13th. This was 
a notable conference in every way, and the number 
of delegates present equaled the average attendance of 
the National Conferences, and in its deliverance it equaled 
any of them. The local attendance was also specially 
noteworthy. At the opening the large Presbyterian 
church was full, and after that the sessions were held in 
the auditorium of the Y. M. C. A. building, and were 
largely attended, especially in the evening. In fact, the 
local attendance was larger than that at our National 
Conferences, except in two or three instances. This, of 
course, was very gratifying to me, as I had been instru- 
mental in bringing the conference to Mansfield. Both of 
our newspapers published the proceedings of the confer- 
ence to the extent of five or six columns every day, 
which has rarely ever been equaled in any other city 
where the National Conferences have been held. 

From the State of Ohio over two hundred delegates, 
including the governor of the state, were registered, rep- 



412 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

resenting state, county and city institutions, and from 
abroad we had upon the platform Professor C. R. Hen- 
derson, of Chicago University, president-elect of the Na- 
tronal Conference for 1899; Rev. H. H. Hart, general 
secretary of the National Conference; Z. R. Brockway, 
superintendent of the New York State Reformatory, El- 
mira; and Horace Fletcher, of Chicago, the author of 
"Menticulture," and the famous child-saving book, en- 
titled "The Last Waif." 

Following the Ohio State Conference was the National 
Prison Congress, which convened at Indianapolis Indiana, 
on the evening of October 15th, and continued until the 
evening of the 19th. In company with Mr. Brockway, 
the president of the congress, and Superintendent Sefton 
and Chaplain L,ocke, of the Ohio State Reformatory, I 
left Mansfield on the morning of the 14th, and attended 
the congress through all its sessions. For the first time 
since the reorganization of the congress in 1884, I was 
free from any official responsibility, and the relief thus 
afforded and the opportunities for discussion on the 
floor the same as other delegates I found very enjoyable. 
The congress was largely attended, and its deliverances 
were varied and valuable, as will be seen by reference to 
its published proceedings. In the assignments for Sun- 
day service, it fell to my lot to deliver an address, in the 
evening, at Second Presbyterian Church. The day after 
adjournment, I joined an excursion of delegates to visit 
the State Reformatory, at Jeffersonville, were we spent 
the day. In the evening, we inspected the jail at Louis- 
ville, Kentucky (one of the worst I have ever seen any- 
where), and returned home via Cincinnati. 

The prison congress at Indianapolis, like the National 
Conference of Charities at Milwaukee, and for similar 
reasons, decided to hold an adjourned session in New 
Orleans. This was arranged for January, 1899, com- 



EVENTS OF 1898-99. 413 

mencing on the 21st and closing on the 24th. This con- 
gress convened at the appointed time, with an attendance 
from other states of about fifty delegates, nearly all from 
the North. Our Ohio delegation, in company with 
other delegates from Indiana and Pennsylvania, went by 
special Pullman from Cincinnati, and spent Friday the 
20th at Memphis, Tennessee, where we were taken in 
charge by a committee of citizens and shown the city and 
its public institutions. In the afternoon we were enter- 
tained by the ladies of the federation clubs, and then for 
a couple of hours various phases of the prison question 
were presented in short addresses by delegates. Leaving 
Memphis at nine p. m., we reached New Orleans at noon. 
The headquarters of the congress were at the St. Charles 
Hotel, where the opening session was held in the even- 
ing. At this session the address of welcome was made 
by Honorable N. A. Snyder, lieutenant-governor of the 
state, and it devolved upon me to make the response, 
after which Major R. W. McClaughrey, of Illinois, pres- 
ident of the congress, delivered his annual add ress. 

The next day, Sunday, the morning session of the as- 
sociation was held in Christ Episcopal Church, where the 
regular congress sermon was preached by Bishop Sessums, 
one of the finest orators it has ever been my privilege to 
hear. Certainly, in matter and manner, this sermon has 
not been excelled by any of the distinguished preachers 
heard by the congress in previous years. Sunday even- 
ing, as usual, prison topics were presented by delegates 
in several churches, and it fell to my lot to occupy one of 
the leading Methodist Churches. The audience was not 
large, but my address was published in full in two of the 
city papers Monday morning, so that I had a wide hear- 
ing. So with all the proceedings of the congress, every- 
thing was published in full every morning, the same as 



414 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

had been done in the previous year for the National Con- 
ference of Charities and Correction. 

The regular sessions on Monday and Tuesday, morn- 
ing and evening, were fairly well attended by citizens, 
but the liberality of the press gave us all Louisiana and 
adjoining states for an audience, and the gospel of prison 
reform had a wider hearing than it did at the regular 
congress in Indianapolis. Among the valuable papers 
at the New Orleans congress there were two especially 
noteworthy by women, the first upon ''The Need of Sep- 
arate Prisons for Women," by Mrs. Ellen Cheney John- 
son, superintendent of the Massachusetts Reformatory 
for Women, and the second upon "The Reformation of 
Incorrigible and Wayward Girls, ' ' by Mrs. Adina Mitch- 
ell, of Whittier, California. This was the last appear- 
ance of Mrs. Johnson before the prison congress, of 
which she had been a member and a regular attendant 
since its reorganization, in 1884. I met her every year, 
and visited her several times at the Massachusetts Re- 
formatory for Women, where she was the general super- 
intendent during all these years, and a year ago we were 
travelers to the City of Mexico, so that I knew her in- 
timately and valued her friendship greatly. She was a 
wonderful woman, and her institution was the best of its 
kind in the world. I fear we shall travel far and wait 
long before we shall find her equal. She died in Lon- 
don, England, June 28, 1899, where she was attend- 
ing the International Congress of Women. A national 
prison congress without Mrs. Johnson will lack one of 
its important factors, and to those of us who have been 
with it from the beginning it will seem lonesome. 

The Twenty- sixth Annual Conference of Charities and 
Corrections was held at Cincinnati, May 23 to 26, 1899, 
and next to that of the previous year, in New York, was 
the largest ever held. There were about 800 registered 



EVENTS OF 1898-99. 415 

delegates, about one-half of whom were from Ohio. Its 
deliverances were equal to any of its predecessors, I 
think, and its annual volume is a valuable contribu- 
tion to the literature of philanthropy. The conference 
was very ably handled, and all the details of the pro- 
gram were carried out smoothly and satisfactorily; but, 
as I have said of other congresses in recent years, it 
seemed to me that too much was attempted, and there 
were too many papers and too many topics to allow 
proper consideration. 

As a remedy for these conditions I have recommended 
to the executive committee of the twenty-seventh con- 
ference, which meets in Topeka, Kansas, next year, that 
the methods of the International Prison Congress, with 
modifications to suit our conditions, be adopted. What 
these methods are can be seen by reference to the report 
of the American delegation on the Paris congress of 1895. 
In brief, they comprise the publication and distribution 
in advance of all papers, so that members can come pre- 
pared to discuss them without their being read to the 
congress. The congress is divided into sections, and 
each paper is referred to the section to which it belongs, 
with a series of topical questions, previously printed and 
distributed, for consideration and answer. The various 
sections meet in the forenoon and discuss these questions, 
and vote their conclusions. In the afternoon these con- 
clusions are reported to a general session, where they are 
again discussed and voted upon, and the result goes out 
as the consensus of the entire congress. 

In this way no time is consumed in reading the pa- 
pers, but ample time is given in advance for their consid- 
eration, and the members of the conference can come 
prepared to approve or disapprove, and every one will 
have a chance to do so in the section meetings, when the 
various questions presented are up for discussion, and 



41 6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

again in the general meeting, if they want to be heard 
again. This is a radical departure from former methods; 
but something must be done, sooner or later, or there 
will be an explosion or secession. Really, under exist- 
ing conditions, our Ohio state conference, and doubtless 
others, is more instructive and valuable to those who at- 
tend than the national conference. My idea is to make 
our state conferences colleges of philanthrop}^ and the 
national conference a post-graduate university. 

Every prudent merchant, once a year, usually takes 
what he calls "an account of stock," in order to as- 
certain his gains or losses, and the reasons therefore, 
and then as the years go by he compares each year with 
the previous years, in order to gain wisdom from ex- 
periences. So with our board of state charities, we take 
an account of stock, as it were, each year in our annual 
report, and in our discussions in connection with it. In 
my recollections for the past twenty-two years I have 
limited myself almost entirely to my experiences in 
philanthropic work, for the reason that my duties and 
observations, so far as the public is concerned, have 
mainly been in that direction. During those years I 
traveled widely, and have visited the typical institutions 
in every state in the Union save one (South Dakota) and 
also in the Dominion of Canada, the Republic of Mexico, 
and the countries of western Europe, so that there are 
but few persons in the world who have seen so many, and 
therefore it seems proper that I should sum up results. 
This I can do only in bold outlines, without argument, 
for my space will not permit anything more. The ob- 
servations upon which these conclusions are based have 
been printed elsewhere in various reports and periodicals, 
and cannot be repeated here. Those who have had oc- 
casion, either officially or otherwise, to deal with the 
problems involved in the care of the dependent, defective 



KVKNTS OF 1898-99. 417 

or delinquent classes do not need to be informed that 
progress is slow, and in some directions distressingly 
slow, and yet when we look back through a series of 
years, as I do, it is clearly evident that some progress 
has been made in almost every direction, and in some 
cases the advances have been really marvelous. 

Take for example the care of the insane. Twenty-two 
years ago when I began to visit the asylums there were 
less than half a dozen in the United States where the 
non-restraint system (now almost universal in state in- 
stitutions) had been adopted. In fact I remember but 
three, viz., at Athens, Ohio, under that prince of 
alienists, Dr. Richard Gundry; at Norristown, Pa., un- 
der Dr. Chase; and at Auburn, N. Y., under Dr. Carlos 
McDonald; and even in these, and of course everywhere 
else, there was no freedom for patients outside of airing 
courts surrounded by walls or stockades. With these 
exceptions restraints were everywhere considered indis- 
pensable in the care of disturbed patients, and straight 
jackets, muffs, straps, camisoles, covered beds (or cribs 
as they were usually called) and various other mechan- 
ical appliances were visible in all asylums for the insane. 
When I came upon the Board of State Charities it was in 
doubt as to the wisdom of the non- restraint system, 
although our secretary, Dr. Byers, was an ardent ad- 
vocate. However, I soon became a convert and there- 
after by voice and pen championed the new era until the 
battle was won. Of course many other improvements 
have been inaugurated, but the advance made can only 
be appreciated fully by those familiar with the old as 
well as the new. I have no doubt but the progress 
made in the care of the insane during the past twenty 
years was greater than in the previous century. 

As with the insane so also with epileptics, great pro- 
27 



418 RKCOIJvKCTlONS OF A UFETIMK. 

gress has been made in their care. Twenty years ago 
there was no separate institution for the care of this most 
pitiable class of unfortunates. A few were scattered 
through the wards of our insane asylums, a menace to 
the other patients, and a horror to themselves in the in- 
terval of their seizures, but as a rule they were in poor 
houses, jails or private families in hopeless neglect. As 
early as 1869, in the second report of our board, the 
separate care of epileptics was recommended in "an 
asylum consisting of a farm ample in size and productive 
in character, upon which plain, neat and substantial 
pavilions might be erected, under the general direction 
of an accomplished agriculturist, and a good adminis- 
trative ability, aided by efficient medical skill and com- 
petent foremen and attendants, would fully meet the 
demand. ' ' With such provision the curable might be re- 
stored, the labor of others, physically strong, properly 
developed, and the general comfort of all others pro- 
moted. 

In 1870 and 1871, this recommendation was revived 
and amplified, and then for four years the board was 
abolished. In 1877, the board having been re-estab- 
lished, the care of epileptics was again pressed upon the 
attention of the legislature. In 1878, when I came upon 
the board, the subject was given special prominence, and 
in writing the report, I secured papers upon epilepsy, by 
Doctor John Curwen, of Pennsylvania, and by Doctor 
H. C. Rutter, of Ohio, both eminent in the specialty, 
and published them as an appendix. We followed this 
up year by year, until at last, in 1890, our efforts secured 
recognition, and authority for building an epileptic asy- 
lum was granted by the general assembly, April n of 
that year. In pursuance of this act, lands were secured 
for the location of this institution at Gallipolis, and on 
the 1 2th of November, 1892, its corner stone was laid. 



KVENTS OF 1898-99. 419 

At this ceremony I had the honor of delivering the 
address which was published as Appendix "A" in our 
board report of the year, and in which I gave a detailed 
account of the genesis and purposes of the new institu- 
tion, which was the first epileptic asylum in the world 
supported from the public funds. In 1893, ^ ve cottages 
were completed and 200 patients were received, and 
from year to year other cottages have been added until 
at present (1899) about 800 are cared for in the colony. 
At first the wisdom of aggregating epileptics in a sepa- 
rate institution by themselves was widely questioned, 
but our experience soon demonstrated its superiority, 
and other states have followed our example, and the 
new era for the care of epileptics has been fully in- 
augurated. 

Another forward movement has been the custodial 
care of adult idiots. Twenty years ago, the only insti- 
tution for the permanent custodial care of this class of 
defectives was that established at Newark, N. Y., for 
women. Now there is another for men, and several 
states have followed, and the importance of such care is 
generally acknowledged. The necessity for such care is 
so obvious that it seems strange that it has not become 
universal, and yet it has taken twenty years of persist- 
ent effort on the part of the Board of State Charities to 
secure its recognition in Ohio. However, by act of the 
general assembly, passed April 12, 1898, "provision for 
the custodial care of the feeble minded" was authorized, 
and 1,068 acres of land have already been purchased for 
that purpose, and appropriations for buildings will doubt- 
less be made. 

In the care for the dependent poor, decided progress 
has been made during the past twenty years in all direc- 
tions. Poor houses are better planned and more intelli- 
gently administered, and outside, in the distribution of 



420 RECOU^CTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

outdoor relief, at least in the larger cities, old methods 
have been revolutionized and supplanted by what is 
known as organized ou scientific charity. In Ohio, a 
long step forward has been made by an act of the gen- 
eral assembly passed April 26, 1898, by which the dis- 
tribution of outdoor relief is made the duty of township 
trustees instead of county infirmary directors, which has 
resulted in securing better care for the worthy poor at a 
largely reduced cost. 

During the past twenty years, probably, more progress 
has been made throughout the United States in the care 
of dependent children than in any other department of 
philanthropy. In 1878, in Ohio, our statistics show 
2,604 children in public care during the year. Of these 
526 were cared for in the six county homes then in ope- 
ration and 2,078 in county infirmaries. In 1898, our 
statistics show 3,745 children received during the year, 
of whom 3,356 were cared for in the forty-six county 
homes, and only 389 in county infirmaries, and these 
were under three years of age and were allowed to re- 
main with their mothers as provided by law. Of all 
these children, more than half were placed out in fam- 
ilies during the year. As in Ohio, so in other states, the 
importance of caring for dependent children is now very 
generally recognized and provided for. 

As with dependent children, so with defectives, the 
deaf, the dumb and blind — ample provision is made for 
their care and education' by the state, and great progress 
has been made in educational methods. 

In the care and reformation of juvenile delinquents, no 
country in the world has made greater progress than the 
United States, and in this great advance Ohio has borne an 
important part. In fact, the first great step forward was 
made by this state by the establishment of the Boys' Indus- 
trial School at Lancaster in 1857, on what has since been 



KVKNTS OF 1898-99. 421 

known as the cottage or family system, and this was fol- 
lowed in 1869 by the Girls' Industrial Home at Delaware. 
These examples have been followed in all of the North- 
ern States and in a number of the Southern States, so 
that offenders of this class, by education and industrial 
training, are graduated into good citizenship as largely as 
the pupils from the public school. 

In dealing with adult criminals, progress has been 
slow, but still some advance has been made in all direc- 
tions. Our jails and workhouses, compared with some 
other countries, are still far behind; but compared with 
what they were twenty years ago, improvements are vis- 
ible almost everywhere, and the outlook for the future is 
encouraging. In dealing with criminals confined in pen- 
itentiaries and state prisons, we have kept pace fairly 
well with progress in other countries, and in some direc- 
tions we are in advance. Certainly, in the care of young 
felons under the age of thirty years, under the system of 
indeterminate sentences, with progressive classification 
and parole, which had its origin at the state reformatory 
at Klmira, New York, in 1876, we have made an advance 
which has not been equaled in other countries. This 
system is now known as the Klmira system, and is in 
operation, in one form or another, in a majority of the 
states. 

A notable advance in recent years is the improved 
methods of administration in our benevolent and penal 
institutions. This has been brought about largely 
through the educational advantages of our National 
Conference of Charities and Correction and our National 
Prison Congress, which meet annually for the considera- 
tion of topics pertaining to the care of the dependent, 
defective and criminal classes. The National Confer- 
ence of Charities and Correction, as an independent or- 
ganization, held its first annual meeting in 1879 in Chi- 



422 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

cago, and, with two exceptions, I have attended all of 
its subsequent meetings. The National Prison Congress 
was organized in 1870, but, after a few annual meetings, 
was suspended until 1884, when it was reorganized. 
Since then it has met annually, and I have attended 
every meeting. Bach of these organizations brings to- 
gether for conference the leading workers and thinkers 
in their respective fields, and their exchange of experi- 
ences and discussions are not only of great value to 
those who attend, but are educational to the general 
public through the newspapers and the annual conference 
reports. As an outgrowth of these national conferences, 
there are now in many states annual conferences of those 
interested in their own local institutions, and of these the 
first was inaugurated in Ohio in 1890, and has been held 
annually since, and has grown steadily in numbers and 
ability, until it rivals the national conference as an educa- 
tional force. There are many other items of progress that 
could be noted, but enough, I think, has been given to 
indicate clearly that the world moves and that our efforts 
in philanthropic work have not been in vain. I have 
already taken up more space than I expected, and there- 
fore, with a brief chapter of general retrospection, I 
bring my memories to a conclusion. I do so, not be- 
cause my activities are ended, but I have reached the 
allotted age of three score years and ten, and a year be- 
yond, and I prefer to close whilst, like Moses, I can do 
so "with eyes undimmed and natural force unabated," 
and not because of the infirmities of age. 



CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 423 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Concluding Chapter. 

Home surroundings — Every-day home life — Out of politics — Faith 
and Ideals — The cry of the ten thousand. 

I have already referred to my early home surround- 
ings as very attractive. My father's farm of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres was one of the best in the county, 
and its location, fronting on the Owasco lake, afforded 
an outlook rarely equaled. Between the house and the 
lake was the main road from the City of Auburn south- 
ward along the eastern shore. We had a fine orchard 
and fruits of all kinds, and of the very best. Our 
neighbors were well-to-do farmers, and there were 
children all around us who were pleasant associates, and 
I have always been thankful I was born in the country. 
In the family my two older sisters were very kind to me, 
and my brother Samuel, who was two years older, was 
my principal companion. 

My brother David, who was the oldest of the fam- 
ily, soon married and moved to Michigan, and I saw 
nothing more of him until my return from Tennessee. 
My brother Samuel, who afterward became a physician 
of eminence, was a mischievous boy, and sometimes 
played pranks upon me; but, upon the whole, we got 
along very well together. He was something of a mu- 
sician and something of an artist, especially in carica- 
ture, and was very entertaining in many ways. He had 
a genius for extemporizing fairy tales and other fictitious 
imaginings, which might have made him famous in lit- 
erature if he had developed in that direction. How- 



424 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

ever, his life was doubtless more useful in the profession 
of his choice, for when he died in Santa Barbara, Cali- 
fornia, where he had lived for many years, the whole 
city were mourners at his funeral. 

In my recollections I have said but little of my every- 
day home life, and yet it is there that my most helpful 
experiences and largest enjoyments have been centered. 
Naturally it is exceptional events, and not the daily rou- 
tine, that find record in our memories; and yet it is the 
daily routine that makes up the larger part of all our 
lives, and if that is unpleasant the enjoyments of life are 
greatly marred. Fortunately, my home life has been 
cloudless and my business life has been congenial, and 
hence the regular routine has been joyous and not 
grievous. A part of our daily routine is the social, civic 
and religious life of the community in which we live, in 
all of which, if we do our duty, we must bear a helpful 
part; and I trust I have been able to contribute some- 
thing in all of these directions. "Whether successful or 
unsuccessful, the effort has been a continuing pleasure. 
I have always been a student, and books, periodicals and 
newspapers have been my daily companions, and by their 
help I have been able to keep abreast of modern thought 
in all important fields, and effort in these directions has 
been helpful and agreeable. In all my life I have found 
but little time for what are called amusements, and that 
little, as a rule, has not been pleasurable. My recrea- 
tions have been changes of mental occupations and out- 
door work, and they have sufficed to keep me in physical 
and mental health, and have left me but few regrets for 
time wasted in foolishness. Fortunately, I married 
young (I was twenty-four years old and my wife eighteen) , 
and had a home of my own. I believe in early mar- 
riages, when habits and ideas are not emphasized and 
fossilized, and can be easily harmonized. The only di- 



CONCLUDING CHAPTKR. 425 

rection in which I have been disposed to be extravagant 
has been in the appointments of my home, and I have 
endeavored to make it the most delightful place on earth 
for my children; and if I have succeeded, I am very 
sure the outlay has been wise. At any rate, my children 
have grown to full maturity and thus far have never 
given me an hour of uneasiness, and if they are satis- 
fied, I am sure I am. In another direction, also, I deem 
myself fortunate, and that is the early beginning of a 
Christian life. For forty-eight years I have been a mem- 
ber of the Congregational Church, and have participated 
in all its activities. For many years I have had charge 
of our senior Bible class, and as a Bible student and 
teacher I have found a vocation helpful to myself, and, 
I trust, useful to others. The Bible as a whole is a 
wonderful book; but the New Testament, and especially 
the life and teachings of the Divine Nazarene, has been 
a fascination to me beyond all other books combined, and 
as I grow older it continues to grow upon me. 

It will be noticed that I have made but little record of 
activities in politics during the past twenty-five years, 
and it may seem a little strange for one who had pre- 
viously been so conspicuous and pugnacious in that 
direction. The truth is, I had found a higher and better 
mission in philanthropic work. The Board of State 
Charities is a nonpartisan board of six members equally 
divided between the leading political parties, and our 
judgment has always been that politics should not enter 
into the administration of our benevolent and correc- 
tional institutions, and by precept and example we have 
brought all the influences at our command to bring about 
that result. In furtherence of this policy we have not 
felt at liberty to make ourselves prominent in political 
contests. Personally I have been a Democrat all these 
years, and as a citizen I have cast my vote and given my 



426 RECOI^KCTIONS OF A UFF/TIMF. 

personal influence in support of the distinctive features 
of my party, but beyond that I have not ventured. As 
members of the State Board of Charities we receive 
no salary whatever, and therefore have no motive 
for the discharge of the duties imposed upon us except 
the love of God, and humanity, and our duty to the 
state. Personally, since I have been on the , board, I 
have refused to make any recommendations for appoint- 
ments to any position in any institution which comes 
under our supervision, so as to preserve a wholly un- 
biased judgment in any contingency that may arise. 
I do not know of any office that a citizen can hold in 
which there is a larger field for earnest and intelligent 
service. General Haj^es, after his retirement from the 
presidential chair, often said that there was but one 
more civil office that he would be willing to accept, and 
that was to be a member of the Board of State Charities. 
We had hoped to have him a member of our board, but, 
unfortunately, when the two or three vacancies occurred 
during his lifetime the conditions were such that his ap- 
pointment was not practicable. I have seen a great deal 
of official life in my time, and I am entirely sincere in 
saying that there is no position in the state, from gov- 
ernor down, that I would be willing to exchange for my 
membership of the Board of State Charities. Bvery 
year of service has deepened my interest in the work, 
and enlarged my estimate of its importance, and whilst 
I live, whether I remain upon the board or retire to 
private life, I expect to give whatever I can spare of 
thought and energy remaining to me to the solution of 
the problems I have studied for so many years. 

It is true, my work as a member of the Board of State 
Charities lacks the charm of personal effort with the un- 
fortunates, and I sometimes envy those who deal directly 
with individuals in trouble, and can see at once the re- 



CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 427 

suits of service rendered. Our work, on the contrary, 
deals with the unfortunate in masses, and with insti- 
tutions in which they are cared for. Our business is 
with methods of administration and with causes rather 
than with individuals, and the results of our work, as a 
rule, are only visible after many days. Still, if we can 
succeed in making a step forward in an institution, or 
shut off a stream of evil at is fountain head, it is far 
reaching in its results, and it is a permanent help to 
those that come that way for generations to come. At 
the close of the year we often feel discouraged with the 
meagerness of results accomplished, but when we look 
back by decades and see marked improvements in 
almost every direction, we thank God and take courage, 
and again go forward with hope for the future. 

To the world at large I suppose I am best known as a 
prison man, but I am quite sure that the best work I 
have attempted has been for the dependent and defective 
classes, and especially for homeless children. In these 
directions we have had the sympathy of the public, and 
have thus been able to make large progress in all direc- 
tions, but in dealing with the criminal classes the average 
American looks upon prison reform as a sentimentalism, 
and consequently progress is very slow. Nevertheless 
the prison question is the most important now before the 
American people. 

We can live and prosper under high tariffs or low 
tariffs, under a gold standard or silver standard, or no 
standard at all, but with crime increasing year by year, 
like a tide that has no ebb, we must solve the question, 
or free government will come to an end, and "the man 
on horseback' ' will be a necessity. That I am deeply in- 
terested in the prison question goes without saying, and 
I suppose there is no other man living that has visited 
more prisons or studied the questions involved more care- 



428 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 

fully than I have, and with many other faithful workers 
I have endeavored to educate a public opinion that will 
bring about a successful solution. At any rate I do not 
propose to abandon effort for the smaller questions that 
are now agitating political parties. 

As I conclude these recollections, I am in my seventy- 
second year, and have passed the mile-stone designated 
as the allotted age of man, beyond which according to 
the psalmist is ' Xabor and Sorrow. ' ' However, I am in 
perfect health mentally and physically, and in spirit I 
never expect to grow old, and I see no reason why, with 
the increasing experiences of advancing years, I should 
cease to be useful. At any rate whatever the coming 
years may bring to me, I trust that they will permit some 
continuing service for the betterment of mankind. 

As a conclusion for my recollections, and as a revela- 
tion of the springs of action in my own career, I do not 
think of anything better than a lay sermon, founded upon 
experience, prepared a dozen years ago for the young 
people of Mansfield, and delivered at the lyceum shortly 
after our removal to our new home in the Memorial 
Library Building. These ideas have been an inspiration 
to my own life, and I commend them to those who come 
after me. They were written twelve years ago, but they 
are just as appropriate now, and even more so. 

Faith and Ideals — A I^ay Sermon for Young Men. 

The oldest account we have of man's advent upon the earth tells 
how Eden was lost, and how the world was cursed, through the 
subtility of the serpent, in deceiving the mother of us all, with the 
specious lie that the disobedience of law would produce pleasure 
rather than pain. 

"And the serpent said unto the woman: Ye shall not surely 
die." 

This bit of history, whether a veritable fact or only an allegory, 



CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 429 

presents, nevertheless, one of the profoundest truths, which is con- 
firmed upon every page of man's history. 

WHAT A MAN BELIEVES THAT HE IS. 

In fact, the most characteristic difference between man and the 
brute is doubtless faith. 

With the brute environment, heredity, and instinct (which is 
heredity intensified) are everything, and with a man they amount 
to much, but after all a man, in the main, is what he believes, and 
the outcome of his life is the result of his faith. 

Every man has an ideal by which, in the main, he molds his life. 
If his ideal is high, his conduct will correspond; and if his faith 
is strong, it will overcome all the hindrances of environment or 
heredity. 

"Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence 
of things not seen," and the grander the ideal the greater the 
achievement. 

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place 
which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he 
went out, not knowing whither he went." 

"By faith Moses, when he was come of years, refused to be called 
the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction 
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a 
season." 

By faith both of these men accomplished results which have 
made them potential factors for good in all ages, and has given 
them a name and fame which will endure whilst the world stands. 

If, then, faith is the dominating force in man's destiny, it follows 
as a logical sequence that a right faith is his most important attain- 
ment, and he who hinders such faith is an enemy. 

If this be true, then it follows also that modern agnosticism, 
which weakens faith in God, in a life hereafter, and in a judgment 
to come, must be a prolific cause of wrong-doing, for it breaks 
down the only barrier which prevents wrong-doing in a multitude 
of persons. 

Agnostics may plead innocence of any evil intent, but their 
philosophy is evil in its results, and as such its advocacy is not only 
inexcusable, but it is also unscientific. 

Faith is based upon ascertained facts, and surely enough of these 
have been accumulated by the observation and experiences of those 
who have preceded us, to guide us fairly well in all the relations of 
our early life, if we obey their conclusions. 



430 RECOU,ECTlONS OF A LIFETIME. 

Among these conclusions are the physical laws which are formu- 
lated into sciences, and our faith accepts them as true, without per- 
sonal verification. Were it otherwise, the activities of modern life 
must cease, for life is too short to prove the truth of every fact 
we use. 

By faith in the "Nautical Almanac," and his sailing charts, the 
navigator drives ■ his ship at full speed over seas he has never 
traversed, and into ports he has never seen. 

By faith ten thousand railway trains are constantly coming and 
going in safety. 

By faith, and by faith alone, commerce and manufactures, and 
all the multitudinous requirements of our social fabric, are made 
possible, and their continuance is wholly dependent upon faith. 
If at any time faith begins to fail, disaster becomes imminent, and 
if doubt increases, panic begins, and the earthquake follows. 

All panics have their origin in want of faith. When business 
men doubt the integrity of each other to any large extent, a fi- 
nancial collapse is inevitable. 

If an army doubts its leaders, or distrusts itself, an aggressive 
enemy of half its numbers can easily conquer. 

So with the individual man, he is a hero or a coward, a success 
or a failure, just in proportion as he has faith. 

If this be true, how important it is that everyone should have 
faith, and especially a right faith, for it is possible to have faith 
in a lie, and a lie works evil. 

Fortunately, truth is stronger than falsehood, and there is enough 
truth established beyond the reach of doubt to guide us safely in 
all our relations in life. 

Surely, good and not evil comes from loyal obedience to the ten 
commandments. 

Surely, society will be helped and not hindered by obedience to 
the precepts of the sermon on the mount. 

To this extent, at least, we are certain of truths about which 
there is no dispute, and there are enough of them to make any 
man or any community stable and secure in the attainment of the 
highest prosperity and happiness of which the world has any 
record. 

It is very evident, therefore, that what the world needs, what 
individuals need, is absolute consecration to what is known to be 
true. 

Doubtless, everyone will be called upon to act under circum- 
stances when entire certainty is not attainable, but if we are loyal 



CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 43 1 

to what we know to be true, we shall not go very far astray in do- 
ing what we believe to be true. 

The Apostle James understood this principle fully when he wrote 
to the twelve tribes, "if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of 
God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it 
shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting, 
for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind 
and tossed." 

Doubtless, as a rule, absolute truth, at least in moral action, is 
hard to follow, unless it is embodied in a living ideal; but fortun- 
ately, we have one such ideal about whom there is no difference of 
opinion as to his pre-eminence over all others. Surely, under these 
circumstances we shall make no mistake in followiug the example 
and teachings of the founder of the Christian religion. If He was 
a divine teacher, as He claimed to be, then obedience to Him in- 
sures for us an inheritance eternal in the heavens. If, on the other 
side, He was not divine, we are absolutely certain that, under His 
precepts, the man or the community will be happier, freer and 
nobler in every way than has ever yet been attained under the 
teachings of any other being known to the earth. 

Under these circumstances, is it not fair to infer that the various 
forms of modern scepticism that impair the faith of men in the pre- 
eminence of Jesus, or in the reality of God and the future, and a 
judgment to come, are a fruitful cause of the increasing volume of 
ciime ? 

It is the old story of the Garden: A weakening faith creates a 
weakening will, and disobedience follows, with crime as the cul- 
mination. 

The trail of the serpent is over it all. 

Modern agnosticism arrogates to itself the garb of science, but 
true science is a builder and not a destroyer. True science never 
tears down a working hypothesis until it can supply a better one. 

Christianity is a working hypothesis for the existence of a 
spiritual world, and of man's connection with it. If nothing 
more, it is certainly as well established as the theory of evolution, 
and if agnostics were true men of science, they would accept it as 
true until by conclusive testing something better could be substi- 
tuted. 

The Great Teacher expressly invited such testings: "If any man 
shall do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of 
God, or whether I speak of myself." 

This is a prescription which all can verify, whether learned or 



432 RKCOIyI,KCTlONS OF A. UFETIME. 

unlearned, and of the millions who have fully tried it there is not 
a recorded instance of failure. 

The skeptic may deny the divinity of Jesus; the agnostic may 
doubt the existence of a creative intelligence anywhere; the ma- 
terialist may insist that outside of matter and blind force, there is 
no evidence of anything, but yet all must admit, and all do admit, 
that whatever does exist is subject to certain rules or modes of ac- 
tion which are known as natural laws, and every substance is na- 
ture, whether animate or inanimate, has its entity in obedience to 
these laws. 

In obedience to these laws, whether material or immaterial, 
whether natural or divine, man lives and moves, and has his being. 
In obedience he is happy, in disobedience he is miserable. 

These laws of well being are moral as well as physical, and both 
are determined by experience. Man cannot live by bread alone, 
and the experience of centuries has shown that the observance of 
moral laws is just as essential to his happiness as the observance 
of physical laws. 

The requirements of the ten commandments, and the sermon on 
the mount, are just as imperative and just as scientific as the law 
of gravitation, and "Thou shalt surely die " is the penalty of dis- 
obedience. 

Mr. Ingersoll may talk of the mistakes of Moses, and Tyndall 
and Huxley may insist that the miracles of Jesus are myths, but 
nevertheless the fact remains that men are happy and nations are 
prosperous just in proportion as they imbibe the spirit of Moses 
and of Jesus. 

Skeptics may question, and agnostics may doubt, the divinity of 
Jesus, but His superiority as a moral teacher they cannot deny, and 
if honest men of science, they ought, at least, to accept his precepts 
as natural laws. 

An honest doubter has wisely written: 

"If Jesus Christ is a man, 
And only a man, I say 
That of all mankind I cleave to Him, 
And to Him will cleave alway. ' ' 

The law of gravitation, as a working hypothesis to explain the 
order and harmony of nature, is not more firmly established by the 
Principia of Newton, than is the law of holiness, presented in the 



CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 433 

Bible as the essential condition of progress and social order among 
men. 

If, then, the Bible contains the noblest ethical precepts known 
to the earth, and Jesus, of Nazareth, ast heir embodiment, is the 
ideal man of the ages, does it not follow as the night the day that 
the state which fails to inculcate a reverence for both, and a knowl- 
edge of both, is derelict in its duty? 

In doing this it does not follow that the state should teach sec- 
tarianism in the slightest degree. 

Christian ethics and the life of Christ are one thing, and sec- 
tarian dogmas are an entirely different thing. The first should be 
taught and the other excluded. 

The graduates of the practical morality class at the Blmira Re- 
formity must pass examinations in the ethics of Socrates, Plato 
and of Jesus, and nothing in that famous institution is more en- 
nobling to its inmates. 

Would our public schools be injured by a similar curriculum? 

In short, what is needed for the highest development of a na- 
tion, or of an individual life, is the acceptance of a noble faith, 
and of inspiring ideals. 

Faith alone, however, is rarely potential for the elevation of a 
nation, or of an individual, except as it is embodied in living ex- 
amplars. 

Alexander the Great took Achilles for his model, and it is re- 
ported that Homer's "Illiad" was his constant companion. ■ 

Napoleon I. took Caesar as his ideal, and the result has been that 
with the average Frenchman to-day military glory is his dominat- 
ing passion. 

So with all men and with all nations, they are molded, and 
guided, and dominated by example more than by precept. 

Precept, however pure, is for the most part powerless, until it 
becomes incarnate. Children live not so much in accordance with 
what their parents teach, as in accordence with what they live. 
Philosophers tell us that the golden rule and many other precepts 
of Christianity were choice maxims in the book of Confucius thou- 
sands of years ago, and yet through the long centuries down to 
the present, where has moral darkness been more profound than 
in China? But when at length those precepts became incarnate in 
the life of Jesus, what power so supreme along the ages or so om- 
nipotent to-day? 

As with individuals so it is with nations; example is more than 
precept. Constitutions may be never be so liberal, and laws may 



434 RKCOU/ECTXONS OF A UFKTIMK. 

be never so pure, but yet if they are not embodied in the lives of 
the executive men of the nation they are but as sounding brass or 
a tinkling cymbal. Napoleon I. theoretically was a Democrat, but 
practically no king in Kurope was so despotic as he, and through 
his example the tribulations of France are largely due to-day. 

Viewed from this point, it is very evident that the establishment 
and continuance of our American institutions is due to the fact — 
the fortunate fact — that the fathers of our Republic were worthy 
to be the ideals of succeeding generations. 

The precepts of the declaration of independence were, perhaps, 
not more pure than those of the French revolution, but, instead of 
Danton and Robespierre and Mirabeau, we had Adams and Frank- 
lin and Henry to represent and live and teach them. Instead of 
Napoleon, God gave to us our Washington. 

It is very evident, therefore, that lofty ideals are essential to 
lofty achievement, and consequently that there is nothing more 
essential to every man in his battle of life than the adoption of a 
worthy ideal. 

Seneca, the wisest of Roman moralists, has said: "We cannot 
be healed by ourselves — some one must lend a hand, some one 
must educate. ' ' Therefore, he says, ' 'choose some good man whom 
thou admirest; hold this model ever before thine eyes." 

This, doubtless, is good advice, but the trouble is, no man, how- 
ever great, is perfect, and hence the necessity of a divine man. 

Solomon the wise counseled, as the conclusion of all knowledge, 
that men should fear God and keep his commandments, but Jesus 
of Nazareth not only obeyed God, but he embodied his command- 
ments in a human life. 

Instead of simply commanding us to do, he invited us to follow. 

Solomon was a failure, but Jesus remains the peerless ideal of all 
mankind, and he says to us, as he said to his disciples, "Ye which 
have followed me, in the regeneration, when the son of man shall 
sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones 
judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 

"He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he 
live." 

"And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." 

Here then is an ideal, not only for time, but for eternity. Surely 
there can be nothing more ennobling or more consoling, for in it 
we have the promise of the life that now is, but also of that which 
is to come. 

Life at its best (and I have seen it at its best) is but a weary 



CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 435 

march, like that of the ten thousand Greeks described by Xenophen, 
but if, like the ten thousand, we are in the path of duty, and 
marching home, we can greet eternity as they greeted the sea 
Thalatta! Thalatta! 

I think there is nothing in literature, certainly in American 
literature, more beautiful than the single stanza of Brownlee 
Brown, entitled "The Cry of the Ten Thousand." Possibly you 
cannot appreciate it until you are sixty years old, as I am, but to 
me it is magnificent. 

It represents a true man at the close of life with eternity in view: 

"the; cry of the ten thousand." 
"I stand upon the summit of my life, 
Behind, the camp, the court, the field, the grove, 
The battle and the burden, vast, afar, 
Beyond these weary ways, Behold, the Sea! 
The sea o'erswept by clouds and winds and wings. 
By thoughts and wishes manifold, whose breath 
Is freshness, and whose mighty pulse is peace. 
Palter no question of the horizon dim, — 
Cut loose the bark; such voyage itself is rest. 
Majestic motion, unimpeded scope, 
A widening heaven, a current without care, 
Eternity! — deliverance, promise, course! 
Time-tired souls salute thee from the shore. ' ' 

The conclusion of the whole matter is, that man's highest attain- 
ment is not material, but spiritual, and that a true faith and a per- 
fect ideal are its first essentials. 

If, in the selection of such, my lay sermon shall aid you in the 
slightest, I will be happy. 



INDEX, 



A. 

Accidents, by flood and field, 10. 

Academy at Auburn, experiences there, 16. 

Anniversary, Centennial, at Marietta, 306; at Columbus, 306. 

Archaeology, 230; association, organization of, 230; first meeting 
of, 231; address of welcome, 232; elected president, 328; ex- 
hibit of, at Chicago exposition, 328. 

B. 

Baker, Barwick, first acquaintance with, 255; results of his work, 
256; history of, 256; memorial service, 297; visit to Hardwick 
Court, 387. 

Bank, Mansfield Savings, organization of, cashier, 223. 

Banker, beginning of career, 234; organization of Mansfield 
Savings Bank, 235; life of, 235. 

Beecher, Henry Ward, call upon, 195; trial of, 239; delegate to, 
239; as an orator, 239; results of trial, 241. 

Bevier, Samuel, Grandfather, 1. 

Birth, date of, childhood and youth, 1. 

Blaine, Jas. G., re-election as speaker, 205; conference with free 
traders, 205; agreement with, 205; breach of faith, 208; es- 
trangement from, 2ii ; estimate of , 211. 

Board of State Charities, reports for Ohio, 1879, 246; powers of, 
247; Minnesota, 254; members of, 243; death of Joseph Perkins 
and Chas. Boesel, 277; estimate of, 277; new members, 277; 
committee on partisan politics, 288; report of, 289; results of, 
290; annual report for 1889, 308; death of Secretary Byers, 310; 
new secretary, John G. Doren, 310; report for 1891, new mem- 
ber, Judge M. D. Follett, 318; report for 1892, 318; my part in, 
318; investigations in 1893, 277; work of standing committees, 
410; Fourth of July at Toledo Hospital, 1898, 410; Trans- 
Mississippi Conference at Omaha in 1898, 410; incidents at, 
411; Ohio State Conference, 1898, at Mansfield, 411; papers and 
discussions, 412; politics not considered, 425; estimate of its 
value, 426. 

(437) 



43 8 index. 

Books I read, Peter Parley's Magazine, n; Penny Magazine, 
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, 12. 

Booth, J. Wilkes, at Ford's Theater, 167; motive for assassination, 
170; capture of Booth, 171; death, 171. 

Branch, John, governor of Florida, father of Mrs. Donelson, 44. 

BrinkerhofF genealogy from Joris Dircksen Brinckerhoff, 1638, 2. 

Brown, Aaron B. and Neil S., rival candidates for governor, joint 
debates, 36. 

Bryant, Wm, Cullen, his influence, 13. 

Byers, Dr. A. G., secretary of Board of State charities, 244; visita- 
tion of institutions with, 244; death of, 310; memorial service, 

315. 
Byron's poems, Childe Harold and Manfred, 14. 

C. 

Calvinism, a sceptical influence, 15. 

Calhoun, John C, father of secession, great conspiracy revealed to 
me, 40. 

Chase, Salmon P., first acquaintance with, 107; estimate of, 108, 
183; Oberlin rescue cases, 108; noblest of men, 112; presi- 
dential aspirations, 112; refusal of advice, 118; disappoint- 
ment, 119; estrangement, 119; reconciliation, 120. 

Children, dependent, progress in care of, 420. 

Church, first connection with, 83; Calvinistic doctrines, 83; early 
experiences in, 83; creeds, 84; Christ and the resurrection, 85; 
guiding Providence, 87; Bible study, 425. 

Clough, George, an artist friend, instructor, 17. 

Conference of Charities and Corrections, organization at Cincin- 
nati in 1878, 245; Chicago, 1879, 245; Cleveland, 1880, 246. 
Boston, 1881, 247; Madison, 1882, 252; paper on building plans, 
253; at Omaha, 1887, 295; Indian question discussed, 296; 
paper on prison labor, 296; incidents at, 311; at Louisville, 
1883, 255; paper on post-penitentiary treatment of prisoners, 
235; paper on lease system, 258; great speech of Governor An- 
derson, 259; at St. Louis, 1884, 273; St. Paul, 1886, 287; Wash- 
ington, 1885, 280; at Buffalo, 1888, 306; incidents at, 306; im- 
portant papers, 307; at San Francisco, 1889, 309; at Baltimore, 
1890, 310; paper on prison Sunday, 311; Denver, 319; papers 
and discussions, 319; memorial tribute to Oscar C. McCul- 
louch, 320; state conference, 1892, at Cleveland, 323; national 
conference, 1893, at Chicago, 323; report on prison progress, 323; 
Hayes Memorial at Chicago, 325; state conference for 1893 at 



indkx. 439 

Dayton, 335; papers and discussions, 336; state conference or- 
ganized at Columbus, 1891, 313; at Indianapolis, 1891, 315; im- 
portant papers, 315; memorial service to Doctor Byers, 315; 
subjects discussed, 315; state conference for 1892, 318; national 
conference, 1892; at Nashville, 1894, 348; papers and discus- 
sions, 348; adjourned session at Memphis, 348; papers and dis- 
cussions, 349; entertainment by Women's Clubs, 349; state 
conference at Kenton, 1894, 351; my contribution, 351; 
National, 1895, at New Haven, 359; national conference at 
Grand Rapids, 1896, 393; state conference at Xenia, 1896, 394; 
adjourned session national conference at New Orleans, March, 
1897, 395; trip down the river, 396; Mardi Gras orgies, 396; 
sessions of congress, 596; addresses at, 397; my contribu- 
tions, 397; journey home, 398; national conference, Toronto, 
1897, 398; incidents at, 398; state conference, Toledo, 1899, 
papers and discussions, 399; national, New York, in 1898, 408; 
opening addresses, 408; sessions of, 409; Cincinnati, 1899, 414; 
sessions, 415; recommendations, 415. 

Congress, experience with 42d, 213; estimate of, 213. 

Conkling, Roscoe, fellow pupil, 17; estimate of, 211, 213. 

County Visitors, boards of, 251; law authorizing, 251; estimate of 
\alues, 252; enlargement of, 289. 

Conventions, Mansfield, in 1854, 109; state, in 1854, 109; Pittsburgh, 
1856, 123; Republican Party organized, 127; incidents of, 125; 
friendships formed, 127; Philadelphia convention, 1856, 128; 
nomination of Fremont for President, 128; tariff reform at 
Cincinnati, 218; Commercial, at Atlanta, 281; incidents at, 282; 
my response to address of welcome, 283. 

D. 

De Witt, Anna Maria, first inspiring teacher, 8. 

Donelson, General Daniel S., first employer as school teacher in 

Tennessee, home and school experiences, 33. 
Donelson, family, its connections and history, 34. 
Dueling, its influence in old South, a personal experience, 43. 

B. 
Editor, my career as, 94; how came about, 94; Mansfield Herald, 
95; salutatory, 95; experiences for three years, 97; my part- 
ners, 97; Petroleum V. Nasby, 98; James G. Robinson, 98; sole 
proprietor, 99; Robert H. Bentley, 99; valedictory, 99. 



44° INDEX. 

Education, started for Amherst College, detained by sickness, 71; 

law school, 72; law student in Ohio, 73; experiences as student, 

73; "Pentagonal Club," 75. 
Epileptics, care of, 418; hospital for, established, 418; corner-stone 

address, 419. 
Evolution, views of, 342; law of Biogenesis, 342. 
Exposition, Chicago, 329; inauguration of in 1892, 329; World's 

Auxiliary Congress, 329; Parliament of Religions, 330; Ohio 

day, 330; my address at dedication of monument, 331, 333; 

origin of monument, 331. 

F. 

Faith and Ideals, closing sermon, 428. 

Ford's Theater, President's party, President's box, 166; progress 
of play, 167; first appearance of Booth, 167; pistol shot, 167; 
"Sic semper tyrannis," 168; escape, 168; death of Lincoln, 169. 

Free trade, resolution for in Republican Convention, 191; speech 
in favor of, 192; report in favor of, 192; Free Trade League, 
194; conference with league, 194; call on Henry Ward Beecher, 
195; a speaking campaign, 195; meeting at Detroit, 195; Pro- 
fessor Perry as a free trader, 195; Mahlon Sands, secretary of 
league, 195; meetings held in Western cities, 195; Associated 
Press interested, 195; meeting at Detroit, 196; meeting at Ann 
Arbor, 196; campaign in New York, 197; Onondaga Salt Co., 
198; "The Tyrants of Syracuse," 199; exposure of, 199; ban- 
quet at Delmonico's, 203; William C. Bryant, 203; impres- 
sions of, 204; address in Portland, Maine, 204; tariff reform in 
congress, 205; winter in Washington, 206; free trade head- 
quarters, 206; test vote in house, 207; agreement with Blaine, 
207; Blaine's breach of faith, 208; Garfield's indignation, 210; 
close of forty-second congress, estimate of, 212. 

Father, influence on my life, 15. 

G 

Grosvenor, Colonel William, leader of Liberal Republican move- 
ment, 215; his great book, 215. 

Greeley, Horace, nomination for President by Liberal Republicans, 
218; campaign of 1872, his campaign trip through the states, 
221; in Ohio, 221; estimate of Greeley, 222. 

Genealogy of Brinkerhoff family, 238; publication of, 239; family 
reunion at Gettysburg, 269; address at, 269; Brinkerhoff re- 
union at Hackensack, N. J., 278; address at, 278. 

Garfield, James A., indignation at Blaine, 210. 



INDEX. 44I 

H. 

Hayes, R. B., journey with to Nashville, 309; address on dueling, 
309; journey with to Baltimore, 322; at Cleveland conference, 
323; candidate for President, 224; interview with, 224; estimate 
of, 228; memorial at Chicago conference, 325. 

Henderson ville, school at, experience with trustees, failure to se- 
cure, 32, 33. 

Hermitage, home of General Jackson, tutor there for three years, 
early history, 45; school at, pupils, 48; schoolroom, 47; life, 48; 
library, 47; visitors, 49; Mrs. Jackson at White House and at 
the Hermitage, 50; Mrs. Adams and sons, 50; servants, 60; 
Alfred, the overseer, 60; my black friends, new views of, 64; 
leaving for the north, 64; Adams boys in after-life, 66; state of 
at present, 66. 

Hobby, number two, 190; pioneers of Ohio, 128, 229; archaeology, 
130; genealogy, 238. 

Huguenot ancestry from L,ouis Bevier, 1850, 1. 

Homer Academy, experiences as a pupil, 18. 

Home, Northern, return to, 64; return to from South, 67; Nash- 
ville to Pittsburgh, 65; race on Ohio river, 67; memorable 
dreams, 68; Pittsburgh to Baltimore, 70; stage experiences, 
70; at Philadelphia, 71; arrival home, changes, 71; first, 122; 
second, 122; early home life, 4, 423; later, 424. 

Hoornbeek, first schoolmaster, 7. 

Hospitality, a typical specimen, 33. 

I. 

Idiots, care of adult, 407, 419. 

Indians, study of tribes, 230. 

Insane, care of, 247; non-restraint system, 247; written up in 
"Congregationalist," 248; my report to governor, 249; To- 
ledo Asylum authorized, 249; my connection with, 249; results 
of, 250; state care of, 252; disease of civilization, 253; hos- 
pital at Tuscaloosa, Ala., 286; Florida Asylum, 287; care of, 
417. 

J- 

Jackson, General, home life, 56; affection for wife, 58; Mrs. Jack- 
son, 57; sentiment toward women, 58; death of Mrs. Jackson, 
59; tomb, 59; as a master, 61; death of, 62. 

Jackson, Andrew, Jr., adopted son of General Jackson, wife and 
family, 46; a Union man throngh the war of rebellion, 46; 



442 INDKX. 

Jackson's boys in after-life, 65; Jackson's daughter, born in 
the White House, pet of the President, 65; Jackson in the 
rebellion, 66. 

Jails, county, at Minneapolis, 254; schools of crime, 266; what 
should be, 268; discussed at Toronto, 303. 

Jonrneys, to Colorado, 297; trip to Pacific coast, Salt Lake City, 
321; Governor Thomas, Carson City, Governor Calcord, Lake 
Tahoe, 321; Sacramento, 321; Stockton, 322; Yosemite Val- 
ley, 322; Los Angeles, 322; San Diego, 322; Santa Barbara, 
322; San Francisco, 322; Portland, 322; Tacoma, 322; Seattle, 
322; Yellowstone Park, 322; sailed for Queenstown, 359; landed, 
359; Cork, 360; through Scotland and England, 360; across 
the Channel, 360; arrival at Paris, 360; leave Paris, 364; 
Switzerland, 364; Germany, 364; Belgium and Holland, 364; 
south and west England, 364; British Islands, 366; tourists, 
treatment of, 367; courtesies received, 367; Crosby Hall, 370; 
Church of St. Helena, 370; Tower of London, 370; London 
Bridge, 371; Westminister Abbey, 371; John Bull a gentleman, 
371; English and French compared, 372; French infidelity, 
373; Paris to Switzerland, 373; Swiss Cantons, 374; Swiss 
people, 374; Rhine Valley, 375; down the Rhine, 376; Sunday 
at Coblentz, 376; German soldiers, 376; Ehrenbreitstein, 377; 
Cologne, 377; Dusseldorf, 377; social life in Germany, 377; 
Holland, 378; famous history, 379; model for American insti- 
tutions, 379; Arnheim, 379; Zutphen, 379; Portsmouth, 385; 
Isle of Wight, 385; Freshwater Bay, 385; Home of Tennyson, 
385; Southampton, 385; Salisbury Cathedral, 385; Blackmore 
Museum, 385; Bristol, 386; Antony Frederick Brinkerhoff, 
379; Amsterdam, 379; Dutch characteristics, 380; Leyden, 381; 
The Hague, 381; American minister, 381; Art galleries, 381; 
Delft, 382; Rotterdam, 382; Belgian people, 382; Antwerp, 382; 
Ghent, 382; Louvain, 382; Brussels, 382; Ostend to Dover, 382; 
Canterbury Cathedral, 383; English courtesies, 384; Ashford, 
384; Brighton, 384; English excursionists, 384; John Wesley's 
home and church, 386; Clifton Down, 386; Gloucester, 386; 
Cathedral at, 386; Hardwick Court, 386; Birmingham, 388; 
government of, 388; Stratford-on-Avon, 389; Chester, 389; 
Liverpool, 390; training ship Akbar, 390; Liverpool docks, 
390; homeward bound, 390; steamship Umbria, 390; storm at 
sea, 391; home again, 391; visit institution in New York, 399; 
visit Cincinnati, 400; addresses there, 400; journey to Texas, 
400; Trip to Mexico, 402; San Antonio, 402; Laredo; 402; in- 



indbx. 443 

cidents at, 403; Monterey, 403; City of Mexico, 404; incidents 
at, 404; President Diaz, 404; Governor Rebollar, 404; Amer- 
ican ambassador, 405; reception by President Diaz, 405; home- 
ward bound, 405. 

K. 
Kentucky, first journey from Louisville to Nashville, 27; Bell's 
tavern, experiences by the way, 28. 

L. 

Labor, prison, 273; my paper on, 296; at Toronto, 302. 

Law, return to, 130; new partners, 130; student at Auburn, with 
Stephen A. Goodwin, 21. 

Lawyer, career as, 79; admission to bar, 80; first partner, 80; first 
case, 83; start at Ashland, 80; return to Mansfield, 87; new 
partner, 87; attorney for war office, 186; last interview with 
Stanton, 182; after war, 234. 

Lincoln, President, first reception at White House, 130; assassina- 
tion of, 166; Ford's theater, Presidential party, President's 
box, 166; progress of play, 167; first appearance of Booth, 167; 
pistol shot, 167; "Sic semper Tyrannis, " 16S; escape, 168; 
death of Lincoln, 169. 

Legislation, county visitors, 251; Toledo asylum, 249; indeterminate 
sentence authorized, 275; intermediate penitentiaries author- 
ized, 275; federal prisons authorized, 281; boards of county 
visitors enlarged, 289; appointment of county visitors made 
mandatory in 1891-2, 314; estimate of boards, 314; Ohio State 
Reformatory organized, 314; bad bill defeated, 336; bills en- 
acted in 1895, 392; bills passed in 1898-9, 407; care of adult 
idiots, 407. 

Lyceum, Mansfield, organization of, 236; results of, 237. 

M. 
Mansfield, student life at, 75; social life at, 76; return to, 186; 

feeling about large cities, 187. 
Marriage, 80; home established, 82; influences, 81; marriage, 424, 

425. 

Missouri Compromise, repeal of, 88; convention to protest, 89; 
resolutions passed, 90; old parties disintegrated, 91; result in 
Ohio in 1854, 91. 

Memphis conference in 1894, 348; papers and discussions, 348; en- 
tertained by Women's Clubs, 349. 



444 index. 

Myers, Allen O., leader in prison legislation, 274. 
Murder trial, famous Freeman case, 21. 

N. 

Nashville, arrival at in 1846, 30; friends, 30. 

Negro, perplexing problem, 55. 

Newspapers, career as editor, 102; editorial conventions, 105; re- 
porters, 102; modern, 102; critics of, 103; Mr. Walker, 103; 
Ohio Liberal, 222; its success, as editor of, 222; files of, 224; 
files of Herald, 224. 

Novel reading, early experience, 12. 

O. 

Oberlin, rescue cases, 108; fugitive slave law declared unconstitu- 
tional, 109; Chief Justice Swan, 109; Judge Jacob Brinkerhoff, 
109; Professor Peck, 108; Cleveland jail, 108. 

Owasco, village of, 1, 5; Lake, its attractions, 5. 

P. 

Parsell, Richard, 7; Hardenburg, Neely's Bend, plantation life, 31. 

Parks, Sherman-Heineman, my interest in, 294; Central Park, 293. 

Penitentiaries, intermediate, 275. 

Philanthropies, dependent poor, 419; dependent children, 420; 
juvenile delinquents, 420; adult criminals, 421; improved ad- 
ministration, 421; sources of progress, 421. 

Philanthropist, beginning of career, 242; definition of, 242; mem- 
ber of Board of State Charities, 243; other members, 243; Sec- 
retary Byers, 244; president of national conference of charities 
and corrections, 246. 

Philanthropy, progress of philanthropic work, 416; care of insane, 
417; care of epileptics, 418; my corner-stone address, 419; hos- 
pital for epileptics established, 418; care of adult idiots, 419. 

Phillips, Judge, largest slaveholder in Tennessee, friend of General 
Jackson, slavery on Judge Phillips' plantation, 53. 

Pioneers, history, 128; publication of, 229. 

Politics, secession, 43; The Great Conspiracy, 43; Ohio election in 
1854, 92; Knownothingism, 91; People's Party, 92; Salmon P. 
Chase, 92; Jacob Brinkerhoff, 92; Thomas H. Ford, 92; Aboli- 
tionists, 104; Wm. Lloyd Garrison, 105; fugitive slave law, 104; 
Cleveland jail, visit to, 108; Oberlin Rescue Cases, 108; con- 
vention of 1854, 109; delegate to, 109; committee on resolu- 
tions, 111; interview with Governor Chase, 11 1; famous third 



INDKx. 445 

resolution, 113; Pittsburgh convention, 123; Philadelphia con- 
vention, 128; presidential campaign of 1868, 156; in Maine, 
156; campaign of 1868, 187; in Maine, 187; in New York, 188; 
a foreign mission suggested, 188; public life unsatisfactory, 1S8; 
Liberal Republican movement, 214; organization at Cincinnati, 
214; Colonel Wm. Grosvenor, 215; Carl Schurz, 217; fatal 
blunder, 217; Horace Greeley nominated, 218; tariff reform 
convention, 218, mistake of Governor Hoadly, 218; another 
blunder, 218; Greeley nomination approved, 219; Fifth Avenue 
Hotel conference, 220; Liberals support Tilden for president, 
223; by Board of State Charities not considered, 425. 

Poor, dependent, progress in care of, 419. 

Presidential election, 1844, 18; Clay and Polk, recollections of, 18. 

Prison Congress, International, 358, delegate to, 358; introductions 
from Secretary of State Gresham, 358; opening of, 360; intro- 
duction to President Faure, 361; entertainments, Palace of 
Blysee, 361; dinner with President Faure, 361; banquet by 
French committee, 362; my address at, 362; excursions, 363; 
sessions of, 363; my part in, 364; report of congress, 364. 

Prison Congress, National, organization of, 260; reorganization of in 
1883, 260; General Hayes made president, 260; conference in 
New York, 261; at Detroit, 1885, 280; paper on U. S. prisoners, 
280; at Atlanta in 1886, 288; my address at, 288; hospitalities at, 
288; at Toronto, 1887, 298; incidents at, 299; closing address, 300; 
at Boston in 1888, 307; excursions at, 308; Phillips Brooks, 308; 
discussions at, 308; Nashville 1889, 309; address of General 
Hayes, 309; excursions at 310; excursions to Hermitage and 
convict camps, 310; paper on Recidi visits, at Cincinnati, 1890, 
311 ; incidents at, 311 ; treatment by press, 312; 1891 at Pittsburgh, 
316; important papers, 316; Baltimore, 1892, 322; my election 
as president, 325; declination of Ex-President Harrison, 325; 
correspondence with, 325; at St. Paul, 1894, 350; success of, 
350; trip to Duluth, 350; Duluth to Cleveland by lake, 350; 
at Denver 1895, 391; my annual address, 391; papers and dis- 
cussions, 392, at Milwaukee, 1896, 393; re-elected president, 
393; new rule adopted, 393; 1897, Austin, Texas, 400; Ohio 
delegation, 400; opening of, 401; newspaper reports, 401; 
papers and discussions, 402; 1898 at Indianapolis, 412; ad- 
journment to New Orleans, 412; trip en route, 413; session at 
Memphis, 413; opening at New Orleans, 413; my contribu- 
tions, 413; papers and discussions, 414; Ellen Cheney John- 
son, 414; tribute to, 414. 



446 index. 

Prisons, career as a prison man, 427; best work accomplished, 427. 

Prisoners, United States, interest in, 262; report upon, 262; duty 
of government, 264; considered in national conference, 268; 
considered at Toronto, 304. 

Prisoners' Sunday, establishment of, 261; paper at Baltimore, 311; 
duty to discharged prisoners, 290; punishments of, 290; dis- 
charged prisoners discussed at Toronto, 304; penal colonies, 
304; aid association, New York, 354; my address at semi-cen- 
tennial, 355; accident on the way, 354. 

Prohibition, views of, 352; criticism of Mr. Woolley, 351. 

R. 

Reformatory, Ohio State, organization of, 314. 

Reformatories, juvenile. 420. 

Religious influences, Calvinistic surroundings, 15. 

Republican liberal movement, convention at Cincinnati, 214; 
nomination of Greeley, 218; Ohio Liberals in 1872, 222; can- 
didate for governor, 223. 

Revolution, Sons of American, organization, 337; address at 
banquet, 338; Fourth of July address at Mansfield, 340. 



School days in Owasco, 8; old red school house, 8. 

School house, importance of pleasant surroundings, 9. 

School, second, first genuine success in life, 21. 

School teacher at sixteen years of age, success as such, 20. 

Schurz, Carl, at Liberal convention, 217; at Fifth Avenue Hotel 
conference, 220. 

Secession, organizing in 1846, its methods and results, dream of a 
slave empire, 42; the great conspiracy, 43. 

Sentences, indeterminate, 275; at Toronto, 303. 

Slavery, on Phillipps' plantation, 53; kindly relations between 
master and slave, 53. 

Societies, secret, their value, 77; Masonry, 77; Odd Fellowship, 77. 

Soldier, enlistment as, 134; "Sherman Brigade," 135; quarter- 
master of 64th O. V. I., 136; brigade recruited, 137; incidents 
of, 137; officers of, 138; promoted to captain and A. Q. M., 
139; ordered to Louisville with brigade, 139; assigned as post 
quartermaster at Bardstown, Ky., 140; duties as quartermaster, 
104; commanding officers, 141; Gen. Ward, 141; Gen. Wm. 
H. Lytle, 141; Gen. Thos. J. Wood, 141; interview with Gen. 
Thomas., 142; winter in Kentucky, 143; S,. Joseph's College, 



indkx. 447 

143; Father Verdon, 144; Sisters of Charity, 144; ordered to 
Nashville, 145; duties at, 145; visit to Hermitage, 146; ordered 
to front, 146; on staff of Gen. Buell, 147; charge of transpor- 
tation for Army of Ohio, 147; experiences in the field, 147; 
siege of Corinth, 147; capture of Corinth, 149; new views of 
slavery, 148; ordered home on sick leave, 149; experiences on 
the way, 149; trip to Lake Superior, 150; Senator Thurman 
and family, 150; return to Cleveland and sanitarium, 151; 
ordered to Boston, Mass., 151; report for duty, 152; a week at 
Nahant, 152; ordered to Maine, 152; chief quartermaster at 
Augusta, 152; Yankee characteristics, 153; duties in Maine, 
153; first meeting with James G. Blaine, 155; first experience 
with Maine audience, 155; experiences in Maine, 156; friends 
in Maine, 157; governors of Maine, 157; John L. Stevens, 157; 
trip to Moosehead Lake, 158; narrow escape from death, 158; a 
week at Moosehead, 158; ordered fo Pittsburgh, 161; duties at 
Pittsburgh, 161; book entitled "Volunteer Quartermaster," 
preparation of, 161; ordered to Washington as post quarter- 
master, 161; duties there, 162; close of war, 163; first meeting 
with Stanton, 173; promoted to colonelcy, 174; expected as- 
signment, 174; home on furlough, 174; return to Washington, 
174; mistakes of Gen. Bingham, 176; assigned to duty with 
Stanton, 177; duties performed, 177; ordered to Cincinnati, 
177, duties there, 178; cholera epidemic, 179; six months of 
funerals, 179; assailed' by politicians, 179; protected b} T 
Stanton, 179; visit to Stanton, 180; resignation and honorable 
discharge, 180; appointment in regular army declined, return 
to civil life, 181. 

South, civilization of, planters and poor whites, hospitality, 31; 
ruling classes, poor whites, country life, 37; slaveholding, de- 
scription of, 64. 

Sports, fisherman, swimmer, skater, 10. 

Stanton, Edwin M., first meeting with, 173; wrong impression, 
175; cordiality, 174; assigned to duty with him, 176; General 
"Baldy" Smith's commission, 177; Stanton's annoyance, 178; 
relations with President Johnson, 181; with Grant, 181; neg- 
lect of Grant, 182; appointment as Justice of the supreme 
court, 182; death, 182; estimate of Stanton, 182; in Buchan- 
an's cabinet, 183. 

T. 

Tennessee, journey to, 23; storm on Lake Erie, 24; visits in Ohio, 
railroad experience, 26; Major Gordon, U. S. Armj', 26. 



448 index. 

Tilden, Samuel J., nomination for President, 224; supported by 
liberals, 223; interview with, 226; estimate of, 226; opinion as 
to his election, 228. 

V. 

Van Buren, Martin, President, visit to, 16. 

Van Vleet, Garrett, an inspiring teacher, 16. 

W. 

Walker, James B., pastor of church at Mansfield, 103; experiences 
with, 103; helpful influence, 104. 

War of rebellion, 133; mutterings of, 133; General Scott, 131; Pres- 
ident Buchanan, 131; Fort Sumter, 133; days in Washington, 
130; bombardment of Sumter, 134; news in Mansfield, 134; 
call for troops, 134; months of recruiting, 135. 

Washington City, post quartermaster, 161; duties there, 162; close 
of war, 163; great celebration, 163; headquarters decoration, 
165; Ford's Theater, assassination of Lincoln, 166; the great 
military pageant, 173. 

Wedding, first experience at in Tennessee, 32. 

Willis, N. P., how influenced by his writings, 13. 



>7 



ONE COPY RECEIVED 
904 









